NATO airforces kept LOSING in Afghanistan

[Loong_Bush]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1148153.html

NATO: Fighter jet crashes at Afghan base
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By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer

KABUL -- A Tornado fighter jet crashed inside NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan on Monday in the second major crash on the base in two days, officials said.

The jet crashed inside Kandahar Airfield during takeoff at 7:20 a.m. Afghanistan time (0250 GMT), said Capt. Ruben Hoornveld, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. The two-member crew ejected and were being treated at the base hospital.

There was no indication that insurgent activity caused the crash, he said, but officials could not immediately say why the plane went down. The jet caught fire and emergency personnel responded.

NATO didn't identify which nation the jet came from, but a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul, Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, said the jet was a Tornado - an aircraft commonly flown by British forces.

The crash happened one day after a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter crashed at Kandahar Airfield, killing 16 people on board. Both Kandahar crashes follow a string of deadly aircraft downings elsewhere around Afghanistan in recent days.

Hoornveld said he did not know why two aircraft had crashed in Kandahar in two days.

"Honestly I can't say, but from my personal view it's coincidence," he said.

Afghan police and NATO troops closed down the highway that runs by the base, and emergency personnel cordoned off the crash site and evacuated the surrounding area, Hoornveld said.

The crash of the Tornado is the third aircraft to go down in Afghanistan in three days. A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed early Saturday in central Afghanistan, killing two crew members. U.S. officials say insurgent fire did not bring down the plane.

Last week, Taliban militants downed an Mi-6 transport helicopter in southern Afghanistan, killing six Ukrainian civilians on board and an Afghan child on the ground.

Earlier in July, two Canadian soldiers and one British trooper were killed in a helicopter crash in Zabul province. Officials said that crash did not appear to be a result of hostile fire.
Associated Press writer David Nowak in Moscow contributed to this report.

 

[Agoraphobic]

Such expense just to fight a bunch of sarong-clad villagers armed with improvised small arms.

So, these "fallen soldiers" - are they brave heroes, or stupid clumsy oafs who've wasted taxpayers' money on expensive equipment and training? Quite obvious whose side God is on.

Cheers!

 

[mee_siam_hum]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090720...pY2xlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDbmF0b2JyaXRpc2hm


NATO: British fighter jet crashes at Afghan base

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 53 mins ago

KABUL – A British fighter jet crashed inside NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan on Monday in the second major crash there in two days. Fourteen Afghan civilians died in two other incidents, including three killed when German troops opened fire on their pickup truck, Afghan officials said.

The Royal Air Force GR4 Tornado crashed inside Kandahar Airfield during takeoff at 7:20 a.m., said Capt. Ruben Hoornveld, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. The crew's two members ejected and were being treated for unspecified injuries at the base hospital.

The Tornado is the fourth aircraft to go down in Afghanistan in three days and the sixth this month. Military officials say there doesn't appear to be a common reason for the spate of crashes beyond coincidence.

There was no indication that insurgent activity caused the latest crash, Hoornveld said, but officials could not immediately say why the plane went down. The jet caught fire and emergency personnel responded.

In the northern province of Kunduz, meanwhile, German forces killed three Afghan civilians Sunday when they opened fire on a pickup truck they suspected contained Taliban fighters, said provincial governor Mohammad Omar.

The German army said two civilians were killed and two seriously wounded and that the forces opened fire because the vehicle was approaching at high speed and ignored warning shots. It wasn't clear why the death tolls differed.

German and Afghan forces were conducting an operation Sunday in the Chahar Dara district when they observed two Taliban fighters entering a minivan, Omar said. When the minivan later drove toward the German forces, they opened fire, he said, but it appears the Taliban may have exited the vehicle, Omar said.

In the west, in Farah province, a van full of civilians hit a roadside bomb Sunday, killing 11 people on board, including a child and his mother, said Mohammad Younis Rasouli, the deputy governor.

A British soldier was killed by an explosion Sunday while on a foot patrol in the Sangin region of Helmand province, the British Ministry of Defense said Monday. At least 16 British troops have died in Afghanistan in July, a death toll that has sparked an outcry in Britain over a shortage of helicopters and other equipment for troops.

Monday's crash of the British Tornado at Kandahar Airfield came a day after a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter crashed at the same base, killing 16 people on board.

Hoornveld called the two Kandahar crashes "coincidence."

Two aircraft also went down Saturday. A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed in central Afghanistan, killing two crew members. U.S. officials say insurgent fire did not bring down the plane. A U.S. helicopter also made what the military calls a "hard landing" the same day. Several troops were injured.

Taliban militants downed a civilian Mi-6 transport helicopter last Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing six Ukrainian civilians on board and an Afghan child on the ground. Earlier in July, two Canadian soldiers and one British trooper were killed in a helicopter crash in Zabul. Officials said the crash did not appear to be caused by hostile fire.

A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul, Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, said she has not heard anything to suggest a common thread tying the rash of crashes together. The types of aircraft involved have been different, and some crashes have been military and others civilian, she said.

"I don't think they're related," she said. "There really hasn't been a lot of similarity between the events except they all happen to be aircraft. In most cases it has not been the result of enemy activity; it has been mechanical problems or other issues."

Last year at this time there were only about 30,000 U.S. troops in the country. Today there is double that, and many more U.S. aircraft. Two of the six recent incidents involved American aircraft.

___

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

 

[shelltox]

If US and nato troops are able to permanantly set up base in agfanistan, then they are very close to encircling China and Russia. But I think the taleban would give them a run for their money( and the money is going to run out pretty soon) .Not many were able to conquer agfanistan

 

[motormafia]

If US and nato troops are able to permanantly set up base in agfanistan,

then they are very close to encircling China and Russia. But I think the taleban would give them a run for their money( and the money is going to run out pretty soon) .Not many were able to conquer agfanistan

Yes indeed Afghan was the one small country that had consecutively fucked 2 super powers - first Soviet Union & then Bush.

Bush wanted to place bases around Russia & PRC, but his series of serious mistakes already put US in a position too weak to take any more military offensive. Like the Soviets the US military will decay until a very bad shape within the next 10 years.

With bases deserted and expensive weapons rotting away.