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Military mum on status of Seals on crashed chopper in Afghanistan

Washington Post:

Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a U.S. special forces helicopter that crashed into a rugged mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan, but there was no immediate word on the fate of the 17 troops on board, according to a U.S. military statement Thursday.

"Coalition forces have secured the site where a helicopter crashed June 28 and are currently assessing the cause of the crash and the status of the 17 service members" who were on board, the statement said.

The statement did not elaborate on efforts to find survivors or the bodies of the 17, who were thought to have perished in Tuesday's crash.

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Further hampering the rescue effort was the loss of a Predator drone that had provided imagery of the crash area Wednesday, according to the senior official. That aircraft might also have been shot down, the official said.

The crash site was in the mountains near the Pakistan border, and is probably near a transit point where the enemy scoots back and forth from its sanctuary in Pakistan.

The governor of Konar, Asadullah Wafa, said the area has been a haven for al Qaeda members. Fighters linked to the Taliban, as well as loyalists of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former minister who is now a fugitive opponent of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, are also reportedly operating in the territory.

Wafa said fighters rarely stayed overnight in the harsh terrain where the fighting took place. "They come in to attack, and then they rush back into Pakistan," he said. In recent weeks, he added, militia attacks have killed as many as 15 people.

The story suggest that the reason the enemy is willing to give battle now is the upcoming elections in Afghanistan. It is also possible that the terrorist would like to open a second front in an attempt to relieve pressure on their forces in Iraq. However, like this special forces operation, the US and its allies appear to be taking the initiative in the fighting, and other than the loss of this chopper, the fighting has all been very one sided, with the enemy sustaining significant casualties in the last month. This suggest that US intelligence on enemy operaions is beginning to pay off against the remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters that are trying to hang on in Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban were chased from power, they have been surprisingly weak in their efforts to fight the new government. They have shown no where near the fight they had against the Soviets. There are several reasons for this. They do not have the financial and logistic support that the US and Saudia Arabia provided against the Soviets, nor do they have the overt help of Pakistan. Then their is the fact, that when they were in charge, they were one of the most brutal and inept governments in the world. Why would anyone want these guys in charges of their lives?

Update: Strategy Page has casualty figures for recent fighting.