NATO soldier killed in offensive against Taliban in Afghanistan

Sgt. Joshua Ochoa fires a .50-caliber machine gun Wednesday in Kunar province, near the village of Aybot in northeast Afghanistan. His unit is in an operation seeking to find and attack Taliban militants in the area.


NATO soldier killed in offensive against Taliban in Afghanistan
By Les Neuhaus, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, October 25, 2007


AYBOT, Afghanistan — One NATO soldier was killed and two others wounded during an offensive operation against Taliban militants holed up in the northeastern mountains of Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

Two spokesmen with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, would not confirm whether the killed and wounded were American soldiers. But the only troops conducting the operation, called Rock Avalanche, are from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, along with Afghan forces.

An unknown number of Taliban fighters also were killed in the battle, which took place in the Korengal Valley, a volatile area bordering Pakistan.

“We have had one incident with troops in contact and one ISAF soldier was killed during operations ... and two ISAF troops were wounded,” Maj. Charles Anthony said by satellite telephone. Anthony is a spokesman for ISAF headquarters in Kabul, located roughly 180 miles southwest of where the operation is being carried out in Kunar province.

ISAF officials said close-air support was brought in to help troops in the battle Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, three other companies conducted maneuvers on Wednesday in an effort to confuse Taliban rebels.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49758



uhc comment: The DoD reported on 10.24 that

Staff Sgt. Larry I. Rougle, 25, of West Jordan, Utah, died Oct. 23 in Sawtalo Sar Mountain, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, of wounds when he was engaged by enemy small arms fire during combat operations. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.



Man, that's big-ass .50 cal.