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TV Says U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; U.S. Denies
Saturday, July 27, 2002
Reuters

DUBAI
Abu Dhabi Television reported yesterday that seven American soldiers had been killed and 14 injured in an ambush at a US facility in eastern Afghanistan, but US Central Command promptly denied the report. "It is not true. We have had no such ambush or incident," Navy Petty Officer Anthony Dallas, a spokesman for the Central Command, told Reuters from Tampa, Florida. The command is in charge of American military activities in the region. The Abu Dhabi television report, attributed only to 'Afghan special sources', also said four US soldiers had been kidnapped from Bagram, site of an airbase near the Afghan capital Kabul used by international forces.

The television station gave no further details of the location of the reported ambush. It said two US helicopters had been destroyed in the attack. No immediate comment was available from US forces in Afghanistan. US soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan as part of a US campaign to root out Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, believed to be responsible for last September's attacks on US cities and a number of attacks on US forces. US bases have been the target of numerous rocket and small arms attacks, and Al Qaeda has vowed to avenge the US military campaign, which witnesses say has caused the deaths of several hundred Afghan civilians.
(More: The Oman Observer News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan