U.S. Personnel Come Under Fire in Afghanistan

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2002 – With all the attention riveted on Iraq, U.S. forces continue their jobs in Afghanistan.

"It is still a dangerous area," a DoD official said.

On Sept. 20, a firebase near Lwara came under rocket and small-arms fire. U.S. personnel responded with mortar fire and strikes by Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. DoD officials said there were no U.S. casualties in the engagement.

American soldiers were to patrol a ridgeline near the firebase to assess the effectiveness of the strikes.

On Sept. 19, special operations forces conducted a cordon and search effort near Orgun-e. In one compound they found Taliban literature urging a jihad against coalition forces. Information at the compound led the personnel to a building where they found a large arms cache.

The cache included 107mm rockets, thousands of small-arms rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and anti- aircraft weapons and ammo. Officials said it took three trucks to haul away the cache.