Air Force Seal

Thirty Americans killed as copter shot down

KABUL | In the worst single day toll for Americans in the fight for Afghanistan, 30 soldiers from U.S. Special Forces and Afghan commandos in September died Saturday when their Chinook helicopter was shot down during a night operation " / p> Most. the dead were from two U.S. Navy SEAL teams, including Team 6, the elite who managed to attack the compound in Pakistan Osama bin Laden in May. The others included five Army CH-47 crew, three Air Force air traffic controllers before and one Afghan interpreter. </ P> But some families in the Kansas City area are worried. A dozen Chinooks in Afghanistan are piloted by the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, an Army Reserve unit that is in part based in Olathe.</p><p>In March, the 7th/158th deployed the CH-47s from Fort Hood, Texas, to Bagram Airfield near Kabul and to two forward operating bases.</p><p>As of Saturday night, the Pentagon had released no names of the casualties from the crash. Concerned members of Company B of the 7th/158th were contacted Saturday afternoon at the New Century AirCenter, but said they had no information they could share. </p><p>The Chinooks, large two-rotor aircraft, are used to ferry troops and supplies across the rugged and often hostile terrain of Afghanistan. The helicopter carrying the SEALs went down in Tangi Valley in Wardak province, just 25 miles west of Kabul.</p><p>&#x93;I was in the house and taking some food for the guests who were in our house. I heard the sound of a rocket firing,&#x94; said a villager in the area, Mansour Majab. &#x93;Later we saw a helicopter downed in an apple and apricot orchard about a kilometer away. There is a river between our house and the place where the helicopter was downed. Smoke was rising from the helicopter till morning.&#x94; </p><p>The area has seen fighting for days, he said. &#x93;Every night the helicopters are flying over our house,&#x94; he said by phone, adding that on Thursday U.S. troops conducting a night raid in another village killed three Taliban fighters. </p><p>Majab said that &#x93;most people are awake during night because of night raids&#x94; and that the region is dominated by the Taliban."In every house has at least one person with the Taliban," he said. </ P> General Abdul Qayum Baqizoy, the police chief of Wardak, told the New York Times that the Downing occurred at about 1 pm on Saturday after an assault on a Taliban compound in the village of Moose-e-Zareen Mekhi. The fighting lasted for at least two hours, the general said. American soldiers have recently had turned on the unique battle station in the valley Tangi for the Afghans.</p><p>A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that insurgents had been gathering at the compound, indicating that eight of them had been killed in the fighting. &#x93;The invader forces conducted a night raid and faced hard resistance from the Islamic Emirate fighters,&#x94; according to a statement posted on the Taliban website.</p><p>The Taliban claimed a rocket-propelled grenade brought down the CH-47. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned against jumping to conclusions about the incident before investigators have completed their work.</ P> The Downing is a painful setback Seal Team 6, which has had international recognition for its success in the raid on May Abbottabad which killed the leader hiding al-Qaeda in Pakistan. None of the men involved in this operation were apparently among the 22 members SEAL lost Saturday. </ P> "Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by men and women of our military and their families, including those who have served in Afghanistan," said President Barack Obama, who was at Camp David."We're going to build on their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and defend the values ​​they embodied." </ P> Obama met personally with the seals, including Cairo, a dog taken on the mission bin Laden has eliminated nearly 10 years after the attacks of September 11, 2001. A dog and his master apparently died in the crash Saturday. </ P> Obama said he also regretted the loss of seven Afghans "who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful future and hopeful for their country."Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to Mr. Obama. </ P> The incident brings the number of American soldiers lost in Afghanistan this year to 297. </ P> Before Saturday, the worst in one day loss of life in Afghanistan has also involved SEALs and a Chinook. It was held on June 28, 2005, when 16 Navy SEALs and Army Special Operations troops were killed when their boat was shot down in Kunar while they were attempting to rescue four seals under attack. </ P> <p> Navy SEALs operate discreetly throughout Afghanistan, raids, searches and high-risk operations. Traveling in a group of a dozen or more, they go after high-profile targets or wanted figures, yet they rarely release details on their missions.</p><p>That so many of the military&#x92;s most elite forces could be killed is a setback as U.S. commanders take the first steps to draw down the American troop presence in Afghanistan. It takes years to train a Navy SEAL unit, and the loss of those killed on the Chinook will have reverberations across the force. </p><p>Night raids have become a favored tactic of NATO coalition troops in recent years and have been credited with weakening Taliban forces.Often, the U.S. military said the Taliban have fled from areas in the south and east, they both tightly controlled, because of an aggressive campaign of the United States in the strongholds of the Taliban. </ P> But a series of assassinations and successful high-profile attacks, some wonder whether losing ground has actually weakened the Taliban. </ P> Since April, the Taliban said they had murdered Kandahar police chief and the mayor and Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president and # x92; brother and powerful governor of Kandahar.In June, insurgents attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul apparently secure, killing 18 people and rattling in Kabul for their safety. </ P> As recently as Thursday, senior military officials said they expect the Taliban to continue attacks targeted response to their lost ground. Mullen told reporters Thursday that the Taliban are moving to "spectacular murders," but "we are working hard to protect our forces and may also provide increased security for - the senior Afghan officials who are covered here.&#x94; </p><p> Regardless, U.S. military officials have said they can safely, albeit gradually, draw down troops. The U.S. is planning to withdraw 10,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of this year, citing security gains and a more capable Afghan army and police. There are currently roughly 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. </p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">Civilians reportedly killed in strike </span></strong><br /> KABUL | A woman and seven young children were killed in southern Afghanistan when a coalition patrol called in an airstrike against insurgents firing on them from a mud compound, Afghan officials said Saturday. </p><p>NATO would not confirm whether any civilians were killed, but said it was investigating the attack.

SEAL Team Six Aboard NATO Helicopter Crash | The BQB

U.S. Navy Seal Team Six 31 U.S. troops died in a helicopter crash in NATO, including members of the SEAL team six victims include 25 members of SEAL Team Six, three Air Force air traffic controllers, master- military dog, military dog, and seven Afghan civilian interpreter

SEAL Team Six suffered losses after a NATO helicopter came under Taliban attack early Saturday morning in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The use of a rocket-propelled grenade Los Angeles Times reports that Taliban insurgents have taken down the Chinook helicopter resulting in 31 wounded U.S. soldiers and seven Afghans.  Afghan officials say it is the war’s greatest single-incident loss of military lives.

Among the casualties aboard the Chinook were members who served in the same unit as the Navy SEALs who were credited with capturing Osama bin Laden back in May.

The Global Post reports that there were  members of the Air Force on board, along with an interpreter, a dog handler and his dog.  While Fox News reports that the number included 25 Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six aboard the Chinook.For now, we know that the majority of losses now belong to the Navy SEALs and SEAL Team Six unit.

Known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, SEAL Team Six is ​​known to be one of the most highly qualified teams of individuals to serve the army of the United States. The best of the best, it has been proven in Seal Team Six out Osama bin Laden back in May of this year. Their identities are usually kept secret that privacy is of utmost importance.

Seal Team Six has become known as the United States Navy’s counter-terrorist unit, requiring its members to not only be physically superior but equally intelligent as well.

The loss of lives suffered by SEAL Team Six today is greater than the June 28, 2005 attack on a military helicopter in Afghanistan’s Kunar province that resulted in 16 Navy SEALs and Army special ops.

Once again SEAL Team Six was participating in a raid on a house were insurgents were gathered, resulting in the downing of the helicopter.  The Taliban claims they shot down the helicopter, however a senior U.S. Administration official is saying the crash is being further investigated at this time and like everything that involves SEAL Team Six requires anonymity for now.

There is no heart braver than the one that serves this country. God Bless our troops and those who have been affected by the great loss today, freedom truly comes with a price.  My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those lives that were lost today, the military service members out there and the surviving members of the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six.

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