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Nine U.S. Troops Killed in East Afghan Fighting
Monday, March 4, 2002
By Gerry J. Gilmore & Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

.Military operations would continue until remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban forces either surrender or are killed. "The choice is theirs," Rumsfeld emphasized.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Nine U.S. service members have been killed and dozens wounded so far in fierce fighting against Al Qaeda and non-Afghan Taliban troops in eastern Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today.

Enemy forces have suffered a much higher casualty rate since March 1 (U.S. date), when coalition forces began attacking an Al Qaeda-Taliban enclave south of the city of Gardez, Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters. More than 1,000 U.S. troops are involved in the operation, as are German, Australian, Danish, Canadian, French and allied Afghan forces.

The American deaths occurred during two separate incidents involving MH-47 helicopters. In the first, the aircraft was getting ready to land. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the chopper but did not explode. The pilot lost control for a time, but recovered and landed. One serviceman died in that incident.
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2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

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