2 U.S. Marines Killed in Afghan Fighting
The U.S. military said Tuesday that two Marines had been killed in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the latest casualties as American forces seek to oust Taliban militants from their stronghold in the world's opium producing capital.
A statement released by the coaltion military force in Afghanistan said the troops were killed in a "hostile incident" on Monday.
Meanwhile, a civilian helicopter contracted by the U.S. military in Helmand crashed killing six people, according to NATO officials.
About 4,000 U.S. Marines have recently joined the fight in Helmand province - the first part of President Obama's intended surge of forces into the country to quell violence which has persisted since the Taliban government was toppled in 2001.
Military spokeswoman LTCdr Christine Sidenstriker told CBS News' Fazul Rahim there were casualties in the helicopter crash, but she could not provide any further details on how many people were injured or killed.
A coalition military source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not yet been made public, told CBS News that neither the helicopter nor its crew were American.
Helmand province official Fazel Haq told the Associated Press the white helicopter crashed and caught fire around daybreak Tuesday in Sangin district in the country's south.
A spokesman for the NATO-led force said six civilians on board were killed and an Afghan national on the ground was hurt. He could not be identified because he was not the media office's top spokesman.
Sidenstriker would not say what caused the helicopter to crash on Tuesday, but she did not rule out the possibility of enemy fire.
In a text message sent to CBS News' Sami Yousafzai, a Taliban commander claimed Tuesday that militants had shot down a helicopter in Helmand province. The claim could not be verified, but the timing and approximate location matched the crash confirmed by Sidenstriker.
The chief of Helmand's Sangin district told Reuters news agency he saw the helicopter on fire before crashing to the ground.
"It was in the sky on fire and then went down," Fazlul Haq told the news agency.
At least 107 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year - a staggering pace for American casualties that could easily pass the death toll of 2008, when 151 service members were killed in the country.
On Monday, the American military reported one service member's death as a result of enemy fire during a vicious fight in the town of Bargh-e-Matal, in the eastern province of Nuristan.
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark was with American troops as they found themselves surrounded by Taliban militants perched on high hills. Clark's exclusive report from the battle for Bargh-e-Matal can be seen below:
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A statement released by the coaltion military force in Afghanistan said the troops were killed in a "hostile incident" on Monday.
Meanwhile, a civilian helicopter contracted by the U.S. military in Helmand crashed killing six people, according to NATO officials.
About 4,000 U.S. Marines have recently joined the fight in Helmand province - the first part of President Obama's intended surge of forces into the country to quell violence which has persisted since the Taliban government was toppled in 2001.
Military spokeswoman LTCdr Christine Sidenstriker told CBS News' Fazul Rahim there were casualties in the helicopter crash, but she could not provide any further details on how many people were injured or killed.
A coalition military source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not yet been made public, told CBS News that neither the helicopter nor its crew were American.
Helmand province official Fazel Haq told the Associated Press the white helicopter crashed and caught fire around daybreak Tuesday in Sangin district in the country's south.
A spokesman for the NATO-led force said six civilians on board were killed and an Afghan national on the ground was hurt. He could not be identified because he was not the media office's top spokesman.
Sidenstriker would not say what caused the helicopter to crash on Tuesday, but she did not rule out the possibility of enemy fire.
In a text message sent to CBS News' Sami Yousafzai, a Taliban commander claimed Tuesday that militants had shot down a helicopter in Helmand province. The claim could not be verified, but the timing and approximate location matched the crash confirmed by Sidenstriker.
The chief of Helmand's Sangin district told Reuters news agency he saw the helicopter on fire before crashing to the ground.
"It was in the sky on fire and then went down," Fazlul Haq told the news agency.
At least 107 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year - a staggering pace for American casualties that could easily pass the death toll of 2008, when 151 service members were killed in the country.
On Monday, the American military reported one service member's death as a result of enemy fire during a vicious fight in the town of Bargh-e-Matal, in the eastern province of Nuristan.
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark was with American troops as they found themselves surrounded by Taliban militants perched on high hills. Clark's exclusive report from the battle for Bargh-e-Matal can be seen below:
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You libs like to complain about the deaths in the conflict in Iraq and Afganistan over the last few years, I spent 13 months in Nam under the leadership of a democrat in the white house and there was nearly elevan thousand Americans killed in that time frame.
The civillian death toll was attrosious, but like I said before, you fight your enemy where he presents himself.
Obama is the enemy.
That tell a lie, and then repeat, repeat, repeat...in the hopes that repetition will make it stick in the reads of enough Americans?
It is trite...it is childish...it is boring...it is very, very Republican.
Tell me how it is possible with all thoses equipements US forces are able to lose soldiers in any operation in which they are engaged?
Every war has casualties of course. I feel saddened by seeing the innocent being injured or killed regardless of their nationality or religion. But when you have a rotten tooth, you have to pull it, and in the process, you may lacerate the gum around it.
The Afghans need our help to remove the thugs and we are helping them. I pray and hope that no one other than the islamic thugs is harmed.
hower4 - Have you not been following the news of how young school girls in Afghanistan have been attacked by these radical thugs for simply attending school? Have you not heard how the thugs poured acid on their faces? Have you not heard or seen the images of islamic thugs stoning under age boys and girls in iran, Afghanistan and pakistan? Do you, for a second, think that the common Afghan population wants to be dominated by these thugs to this extent?
Every war has casualties of course. I feel saddened by seeing the innocent being injured or killed regardless of their nationality or religion. But when you have a rotten tooth, you have to pull it, and in the process, you may lacerate the gum around it.
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Actually, it's better to perform intelligent and professional work to reconstruct the tooth from the root upwards. Do you understand your own metaphor now?
Do you think God should bless and protect the innocent civilians in Afghanistan too?
_________________________
Who brainwashed you into thinking that Precision Guided Munitions (Bombs) all of sudden became not-so precise hitting un-intended targets ? what liberal re-education facility did you get brain washed to believe America kills innocent civilians ?
We go out of our way to avoid any collateral damage, even at the peril of our own troops to protect innocents.
So, keep hoping that the enemy and their fellow Ghans will be blessed, while you curse this country and our soldiers....it's the Liberal way !!!!
Who brainwashed you into thinking that Precision Guided Munitions (Bombs) all of sudden became not-so precise hitting un-intended targets ?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I think perhaps it was all the dead and maimed women and children, but apparently your superior brain can simply exclude these.
Why is it that ALL politicians seem to like wars?
Democracy is clearly failing to represent the views of the majority in the US and UK, so why should anyone in Afghanistan or elsewhere want to accept our kind of democracy?...... especially at the end of a gun!
Is that the tone of this board? Because some of you are pathetic.
.
Neck deep in the Big Muddy and the fool says "Push on".
Why is it that ALL politicians seem to like wars?
Democracy is clearly failing to represent the views of the majority in the US and UK, so why should anyone in Afghanistan or elsewhere want to accept our kind of democracy?...... especially at the end of a gun!
define Victory again...