US troops tell of Taliban battle

by Romeo Gacad And Daphne Benoit

– Fri Oct 16, 2009, 4:46 am ET

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (AFP) –

The two US Army combat engineers smiled and admitted they had a lucky escape. While on the hunt for roadside bombs, they ended up in a fierce 12-hour battle with the Taliban fighters.

Early on August 24 at Howz-e-Madad, in the west of southern Kandahar province, they were in their heavily-armoured vehicle when they spotted a radio-controlled improvised explosive device (IED).

The yellow plastic container, with wires coming out of it, was buried in the track running alongside the road and opposite a mud-walled house.

"We saw it and set up security to neutralise the IED," Specialist Michael Lawson, 28, told AFP. "We called in an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team to blow in place the IED.

"When we were unearthing the IED, we started taking small arms fire."

Cheap to make, hard-to-detect and deadly, IEDs have become the weapons of choice for the Taliban fighters, with estimates that they now account for three-quarters of all fatalities among foreign forces.

But the engineers' experience shows that soldiers also have to contend with a wily enemy, whose influence is spreading across the country and who are prepared to fight to the death to force NATO to withdraw from Afghanistan.

First Lieutenant Sean Grady, platoon leader of the 569th Combat Engineer Company, said his men were hampered by heavy equipment as the shooting started and they began a counter-attack.

Their pursuit then led to an ambush.

"We were forced into a choke point. When we crossed a small bridge over a stream, they were waiting for us. As soon as the last guy crossed, they started shooting at us."

The small team, charged with clearing roads of IEDs, didn't get far before firing started again.

Bullets thumped into the ground and whizzed over the engineers' heads.

"We got pinned down on the ground with a small mound, eight to 10 inches (20 to 25 centimetres) of dirt. Not much cover at all," said Grady, 24. "We were getting heavy machinegun fire."

Heavily outnumbered, the six-strong team returned fire, halting the Taliban assault and allowing them to take refuge in a compound.

But the respite didn't last long.

"There were 40 enemy in the woodline. I went on the roof to assess and got shot at. I called air support," said Grady.

Two helicopter gunships arrived and unleashed rockets, machinegun fire and Hellfire missiles into the woods, allowing the engineers to eventually move into the Taliban position.

"We found bloody clothes and body parts. There were blood trails but no more bodies in the woodline," said Grady, who as platoon leader had to assess the situation.

"Then we got ambushed again," he added. "It was constant machinegun fire the whole time. They (the Taliban) refused to retreat.

"After it was getting out of hand we called for artillery fire. Tanks arrived near the enemy area." The heavy guns of the artillery soon pounded the area.

A drone with a high-powered camera sent up to survey the area then spotted six armed Taliban fighters. The unmanned aircraft dropped a bomb on them, exploding into a mushroom cloud.

"The enemy were in a good fighting position. They had good cover. Artillery must have scared them off," said Grady.

"It ended when the sun went down. Everyone went home." In all, 40 to 50 Taliban were killed. The Americans were uninjured, said Grady.

Specialist Lawson was armed with a light machinegun and 600 rounds. "I fired off more than half. About 400. It was a rough, long day," he said. Grady added: "Thankfully, they were not very good at shooting."

4 Americans killed in Afghanistan blast

By Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer

October 16, 2009

KABUL –

The four U.S. service members were hit by a bomb blast Thursday, with two killed instantly and two later dying of their wounds, the U.S. said in a statement. No further details were released.

The deaths bring to 25 the number of American service members killed in Afghanistan this month, according to an Associated Press count.

Rising death tolls and the political crisis brought on by a fraud-marred election have prompted President Barack Obama's administration to review its entire Afghanistan strategy. The White House is considering various options, including a sharp increase in the number of U.S. troops here or shifting the focus to missile strikes and special operations raids against al-Qaida members hiding in neighboring Pakistan.