AFGHAN TALIBAN SHOT DOWN US HELICOPTER
Taliban fighters shot at a US helicopter head – on
from nearly point-blank range, US law-makers heard Thursday in what was the
single deadliest incident for US and NATO forces in the Afghan war.
Lawmakers were grilling US military officials over
the August 2011 attack on the Chinook that killed 30 American as it transported
Navy SEAL commandos, along with other American and Afghan troops to flush out a
Taliban commander in Wardak province.
Families of some of the victims have alleged the
military has not revealed all the facts
of the incident failed to punish commanders in charge of the operation and
mishandled some of the remains of the dead.
Afghan soldiers have also been suspected, involved in
the operation could have passed word to the Taliban of the chopper’s route.
Taliban fighters atop a building near the designated
landing zone fired rocket-propelled grenades at the chopper from nearly head-on at a distance of less than
200 yards according to the defence
secretary operations. The close range
left the pilot no chance to perform evasive maneuvers.
US Army Ranger forces had staged an operation
earlier targeting Taliban figure and the Navy Seals were flown in to try to cut
off the escape route of the fleeing commander.
Reid dismissed the possibility that Taliban
militants learned about the helicopter’s route beforehand, and air crew knew
the flight route and landing zone. AC-130 aircraft a predator drone and two
Apache helicopters had flown over the designated landing area minutes earlier
and failed to detect the Taliban fighters nearby. The harsh reality is
that helicopters remain vulnerable and
other shoulder launched weapons and the Chinook is the standard helicopter used
by troops at high elevations in Afghanistan due to its longer range and that
flying modified model designed for special forces would not have made a difference.
Chinooks have been shot down by Taliban previously
in Afghanistan in 2005 and in 2002. The facts remains we will always have to
balance the tactical requirement to move troops quickly across the battlefield
with the dangers of incurring lethal enemy fire and flying in extreme terrain.
