31 US troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, killed in Afghanistan

[Chickadee]

MSN Online:

 

 

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 8/6/2011 8:23:04 PM ET

 

KABUL, Afghanistan — A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos. It was the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

 

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene.

 

U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News that the U.S. believes the helicopter was shot down. One senior defense official, speakng on condition of anonymity, said the military does "not have any indication that it was anything other than" hostile fire.

 

NATO confirmed the overnight crash took place and that there "was enemy activity in the area." But it said it was still investigating the cause and conducting a recovery operation at the site. It did not release details or casualty figures.

 

"We are in the process of accessing the facts," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman.

 

One current and one former U.S. official said that the dead included more than 20 Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six, the unit that carried out the raid in Pakistan in May that killed bin Laden. They were being flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified.

 

None of those killed in the crash is believed to have been part of the SEALs mission that killed bin Laden, but they were from the same unit as the bin Laden team.

 

The SEALs were not all from the same location in the U.S., officials told NBC. Some were East-Coast based, others West-Coast based.

 

President Barack Obama mourned the deaths of the American troops, saying in a statement that the crash serves as a reminder of the "extraordinary sacrifices" being made by the U.S. military and its families. He said he also mourned "the Afghans who died alongside our troops."

 

[nickydog]

[Geee]

Breaks my heart.

[nickydog]

Did this really happen? I never saw or read about it anywhere else. It's so traumatic you'd think it would have made front page headlines.

[Draggingtree]

Did this really happen? I never saw or read about it anywhere else. It's so traumatic you'd think it would have made front page headlines.

Yes it did a little after the killing of QBL,,, helicopter was shot down way I remember

[righteousmomma]

Utterly tragic and sad.

 

 

 

(Remember the daily tally of deaths on W's watch?)