US troops killed in Afghanistan chopper crash

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/08/06/afghanistan.nato.helicopter.crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

31 US troops -- mostly special ops -- and seven Afghans believed dead in helicopter crash. Taliban takes credit.

 

This is awful news. Such a loss. Thoughts to family and friends.

 

Godspeed. Thoughts out to you, tbf, not sure if you fly Chinooks or not but still must hit home.

 

@AP -- The Associated Press

BREAKING: AP sources: Majority of those killed in helicopter crash were from Navy SEAL Team 6.

 

Shit. RIP, and thank you for your service.

 

My God, that is horrible. I'm assuming that wasn't an accident. How the fuck did the insurgents get that information?

 

They were shot down during an operation on a Taliban compound that sounded like it turned into a pretty fierce firefight. It's not like the ones who shot them knew who was in the chopper at the time, although I'm sure as that information comes out we'll get some bragging statements about how they've avenged Osama.

In the New Yorker story it talked about how in many ways the Osama raid was nothing out of the ordinary because those guys go on those missions constantly, just that they're obviously not publicized. So it seems like this was another one of those "regular" raids, which are obviously anything but routine, as this shows.

Definitely makes you wonder if the soldiers mentioned in the New Yorker piece were part of this, although it could be totally different group in that unit.

Have already seen some online comments - on Yahoo!, which make newspaper and youtube comments look like the peak of civilization - about how this is part of the conspiracy: no proof Osama's dead, now removing soldiers from the unit involved, etc., etc., etc. Ugh.

 

Latest from AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that none of the Navy SEALs who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan had participated in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, although they were from the same unit that carried out the bin Laden mission.

 

I was wondering about this.

I thought a team like this would only be brought in for a major operation. Aren't they based in the States and not in Afghanistan?

Had me wondering if they were on a pretty important mission.

Either way, it sucks.

 

They have commandos all over the region there, some in Afghanistan, some in other countries.

 

I assume it was a 160th bird, but don't know anything about it.

www.armyaircrews.com reports this:

5 crewmen killed
22 USN SEALS killed
3 USAF FACs killed
7 Afghan SF killed
1 Afghan interpreter killed
1 dog killed

A/C crashed occurred at approx 0300 hours at Tangi Joi Zareen, in the district of Sayd Abad in Wardak Province during an insurgent operation. Early reports indicate A/C was shot down by an RPG.