Source: IslamOnline & News Agencies

Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters killed forty soldiers from the U.S. special forces in southeast Afghanistan near the Pakistani borders, a Pakistani newspaper reported Wednesday, June 19.

In response, U.S. forces attacked the entire area, said the Urdu- language Mashreq paper. Besides the 40 U.S. soldiers, 10 of the Afghan-U.S. allies were also killed during the attack which the fighters carried out at the American forces. U.S. forces were on their way to carry out an inspection and survey mission on the Birmil area in the province of Khost.

The news was not confirmed by any other source. The paper said that when Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters knew of the American attack on the area, they also carried out their attack described as strong and sudden on the U.S. convoy. They destroyed six U.S. military cars. Mashreq also reported that the attack was one of the strongest carried out by Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters against the U.S. forces during the last few weeks.

"As soon as the center of the American forces in Khost airport heard the news of the death of the forty soldiers, they ordered a counter attack," said the paper, describing the U.S. attack as retaliatory and aggressive. U.S. missiles attacked the area all night long causing great financial and human losses.

Meanwhile, four FBI agents were kidnapped Tuesday, June 18, morning while they were in their car in the Bazar Ghulam Khan area in Miranshah near the Pakistani borders, the paper said in another report. The paper added that U.S. efforts to find out the fate of these agents have failed and that the car they were in was not found. U.S. warplanes and ground troops have searched all nearby villages and have not been able to find information about the kidnapped.

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Terbitan : 21 Jun 2002

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