International
U.S. suffers first casualty in combat
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
WASHINGTON, JAN. 5. After three months of military operations in Afghanistan, the United States has suffered its first combat fatality. An army special forces officer, said to be a Green Beret, was killed during a small arms fire exchange in eastern Afghanistan. An operative of the Central Intelligence Agency was also believed to be seriously wounded in the incident.
``There was an exchange of small arms fire. This American serviceman was doing his job. He was out for the purpose of working with and co-ordinating with tribal leaders in the area,'' the commander of the central command, Gen. Tommy Franks said in Florida.
Details of how the soldier died are yet to be given to the media. It is believed the CIA may have been involved in some mission which may not have been all that overt. The Green Berets have been in Afghanistan working and co-ordinating with other agencies of the United States Government, including the CIA, especially in the realm of intelligence gathering with a view to guiding American planes to their targets.
The slain Green Beret is said to have to be been part of a team working near Khost, the area of Paktia province where the net has been cast for the leader of the Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. The U.S. military has been combing the area along with other anti-Taliban forces. American warplanes once again bombed a compound believed to be that of the Al-Qaeda. The other area where there is intense American focus is central Afghanistan, in the vicinity of Bagran, where the deposed leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar is believed to be hiding. At least two attempts in the last few days to have Mullah Omar surrender have failed and one view is that the former leader of the extremist outfit may have escaped the dragnet yet again.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has agreed to turn over to the United States two key persons - the former Taliban envoy to Islamabad and one of the top 20 Al-Qaeda leaders. Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan will be the highest-ranking Taliban official to be taken by the United States for questioning. But the Al-Qaeda leader, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi is seen as a prize catch given that he was in charge of Bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan.
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