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Sf killed may { May 20 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Monday, May 20, 2002
U.S. Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A U.S. Special Forces soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan during a skirmish with forces believed linked to al-Qaida and the deposed Taliban militia, military officials said Monday. At least one opponent died and an Afghan fighting with the American forces was injured in the firefight.
Sgt. Gene Arden Vance Jr., 38, was killed Sunday afternoon when his unit came under heavy fire, said Capt. Steven O'Connor, a U.S. military spokesman at Bagram air base north of Kabul. Vance was a 10-year veteran of the West Virginia National Guard and had been stationed in the Middle East for five months, the military said.
The firefight started when suspected al-Qaida or Taliban fighters in a mountainous area fired on U.S. forces at about 5 p.m. local time Sunday, said Maj. Bryan Hilferty, a U.S. military spokesman.
``We returned fire, killing one enemy,'' Hilferty said at a briefing Monday in Bagram, the main coalition base in Afghanistan. He did not say how Vance was killed.
``One casualty does not deter us,'' Hilferty said. ``It certainly makes us realize and understand mortality more, but we're determined to see this mission out to the end.''
The U.S.-led coalition believes Taliban and al-Qaida fighters trying to regroup have been hiding out for months in the mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan near the cities of Khost and Gardez. British Royal Marines continued to search the area Monday, Hilferty said.
Vance, of Morgantown, W.Va., was in the 19th Special Forces Unit of the West Virginia National Guard, said spokesman Maj. Mike Cadle. He is survived by his wife and daughter, Cadle said. His body will be sent back to the United States this week, Hilferty said.
Small teams of U.S. special forces and other coalition soldiers are operating throughout eastern Afghanistan, searching for Taliban and al-Qaida members.
Some 1,000 British-led troops launched the sweep through mountains near Khost on Friday, saying they believed a ``significant number'' of fighters were there after an Australian patrol was attacked the day before. The U.S. military said about 100 enemy fighters were in the area.
The Australians came under heavy fire there for five hours and called in strikes by American A130 gunships, which killed 10 people who the coalition said were Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.
Lt. Col. Ben Curry, a British military spokesman, said Sunday that coalition troops had searched half the area targeted by the sweep, named Operation Condor, but encountered no opposition fighters.
A small amount of ammunition was found, including two 120 mm rockets and a few cases of 12.7 mm ammunition, Curry said at Bagram.
An Afghan tribe whose fighters were killed in Thursday's A130 strike disputed the coalition account of the fighting there. A delegation from the tribe discussed the bombing with U.S. officers Saturday at Khost airport, where American special forces are based.
Members of the Sabari tribe said their fighters were skirmishing with the Balkhiel tribe in a dispute over a stand of trees near their villages 30 miles north of Khost when the bombs fell. Sabari elders denied firing on the Australians or the U.S. aircraft and said they had no ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
However, Hilferty said Sunday he had ``no reason to believe'' the tribe's account. ``They were shooting heavy machine gun and mortars at us. That is known al-Qaida and Taliban area,'' he said.
Coalition forces had observed the area for several days and believed it was being used as a transit point by al-Qaida and Taliban members, Hilferty said.
At Bagram, British forces said three more soldiers suffering from the ``winter vomiting'' bug - officially known as the Norwalk-like virus, after the Ohio town where it was first identified - were evacuated to Britain on Sunday, bringing the total evacuated to 11.
Maj. Geoff Moulton, a Royal Marines spokesman, said 27 cases of the illness had been positively identified by Monday morning. ``None are currently listed as seriously or critically ill,'' he said.
Some 333 British troops were under quarantine, but that was lifted Sunday after the military said no more cases were found in the past 48 hours.
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