On Tuesday night and in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the U.S. carried out 12 airstrikes and sent in a Quick Response Force consisting of dozens of U.S. troops to rescue a team of commandos, trapped inside a compound in the city of Marjah. While the embattled team was rescued, the QRF remains embroiled in a fierce firefight deep in enemy territory.
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The commandos along with their blackhawk came under heavy fire yesterday, leaving one dead and two injured inside a compound where they sought refuge from overwhelming Taliban force.
One official told Fox News:
“On the map there is one green dot representing friendly forces stuck in the compound, and around it is a sea of red [representing hostile forces].”
It was at this point that an AC-130 gunship was called in for air support.
The Taliban have retaken much of the city in months past, over a year after the U.S. officially ended the war in Afghanistan.
The quick response forces remain on the ground and in the compound, protecting the downed blackhawk.
Here are some tweets and a Fox report on the situation:
Just in: The 1 US soldier KIA & 2 others wounded in action now evacuated from Marjah S. #Afghanistan QRF on the ground – defense official
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 6, 2016
#Marjah UPDATE: US SOF team who engaged Taliban & suffered 1 KIA Tues out of Marjah now. But US QRF remains with damaged helo in compound
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) January 6, 2016
US mil troops engaged in 20-hr battle yesterday w/Taliban in #Marjah, had to abandon damaged helo. Evacuated casualties. #Afghanistan
— Nancy Youssef, نانسى (@nancyayoussef) January 6, 2016
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From Fox News:
A team of U.S. special operations forces who suffered one casualty while fighting the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan on Tuesday were pulled out of the area a short time ago, a senior defense official told Fox News Wednesday.
A QRF or quick reaction force consisting of dozens of U.S. military infantry forces remains on the ground in Marjah in Helmand province to guard a damaged Blackhawk helicopter which remains in the compound.
On Tuesday, when crews on two rescue or “medevac” helicopters tried to extract the body of one special operations solider killed in action as well as two wounded servicemen, one helicopter’s rotor blades hit the wall in the compound attempting to land inside. That helicopter remains in the compound.
The other helicopter was “waved off” after receiving ground fire.
Will U.S. troops need to return to Afghanistan again to push back Taliban forces? Sound off in the comments below!
