5 U.S. soldiers Die in Afghanistan by ‘friendly fire’

Five U.S. soldiers  and an Afghan soldier were killed in Afghanistan on Monday in the south by a NATO bombing. The Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby, explained that the deaths were result of “friendly fire” during a security operation.

Ghulam Sakhi Roghlewanai, police chief of Zabul province, where the incident occurred, said that joint forces of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and ISAF were participating in an action against the Taliban.

“ISAF troops mistakenly bombed, causing the death of five NATO soldiers and one of the ANA,” said Roghlewanai. It happened when the unit of soldiers “came in contact with enemy forces,” Pentagon spokesman said. Reports indicate that so far this year in Afghanistan 35 NATO troops have been killed , 24 of them are Americans. In addition, some 3,444 soldiers have been killed since the start of operations in Afghanistan in late 2001, after the attacks of September 11.

International troops began in 2011 to gradually withdraw from the country in phases and transfer the responsibility for security to the Afghan Army and local police. Today, Afghanistan is at a key moment from the U.S. invasion, which led to the fall of the Taliban twelve years ago. On 14 June, the country will hold the second round of the presidential elections. The winner will face the expected foreign military withdrawal and the implications for the Taliban insurgency. Although the current President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has spoken out against signing a bilateral agreement to extend and define the U.S. military presence, both candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, were open to sign.

The ISAF mission will end later this year, but the U.S. has announced it will hold about 9,800 troops in the country until the total withdrawal in late 2016. Thus, the will to bring about 32,000 back to United States leaving only 9,800 soldiers, reduce that number by half by the end of 2015 and abandon all military bases in the country at the end of 2016.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=45182

Posted by Khalil Khan on Jun 12 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.