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| A Fight in Afghanistan |
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| At least 9 people, 7 of which were U.S. troops, were killed 4 March 2002 when an American Army special forces MH-47E helicopter, tail number 92-00475, was shot down in Afghanistan as Afghan and Western forces pressed their biggest attack of the war against regrouping al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. The map shows a perspective view of the area of eastern Afghanistan where the offensive was concentrated. |
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| A map of Afghanistan showing the where the major fighting has occurred. |
| The nine people were killed in ferocious exchanges with al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan that began on Friday, 1 March 2002, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday. |
| "I deeply regret that a number of U.S. servicemen and several Afghan fighters assisting us have been killed in action," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing. "At the last count there were nine total; that includes those that were involved in the helicopter crash and there have been several Afghans as well." |
| He said there were a number of wounded, both U.S. and Afghan, but said "close to half of those are already back in the battle, and of the remainder, relatively few have life threatening wounds." |
| The Pentagon confirmed earlier reports that a MH-47E Chinook helicopter was downed by ground fire near Gardez in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. |
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| A U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter flies over the Paktia province town of Gardez, Afghanistan in this 5 March 2002 file photo. The helicopter is similar to the one carrying a Navy SEAL team to Takur Ghar, Afghanistan on that fateful 4 March 2002 flight in which several soldiers were killed. |
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| Soldiers from the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division load into a Chinook helicopter as they prepare to return to Bagram Air Base on Sunday, 10 March 2002, from fighting near the villages of Sherkhankheyl, Marzak and Bobelkiel, Afghanistan. The towns were an al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold which came under intense bombing and firefights as the coalition forces battled to root them out. As there we not enough seats available, soldiers climbed aboard and sat down anywhere they could. |
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| This photograph, dated 12 March 2002, shows US soldiers disembarking from a CH-47D Chinook helicopter at Bagram Air Base, after returning from the Arma mountain region near Gardez in Afghanistan. |
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| U.S. Army soldiers get into a CH-47D Chinook helicopter, as it prepares for takeoff in the Shahi Kot mountains in Afghanistan on 15 March 2002. One of the biggest problems during the Gulf War was sand and dust that reduced visibility, clogged engine intakes and damaged helicopter power train and rotor systems. The U.S. military has developed better filters and updated maintenance procedures to help keep the grit from gumming up the works. |
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| Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battalion prepare to get on a Chinook helicopter Sunday, 17 March 2002, in the Shahikot valley region of eastern Afghanistan. The helicopter is one of the many operated by B Company - "Hercules", 159th Aviation Regiment, from Hunter Army Airfield, near Savannah, Georgia. B Company is subordinate to the 18th Aviation Brigade, located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 18th Aviation Brigade is subordinate to the 18th Airborne Corps, which is part of Forces Command (FORSCOM), 2nd Army. The troops were heading back to Bagram Air Base as Operation Harpoon comes to a close, but Operation Anaconda continues as coalition troops pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan. |
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| Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, Tuesday, 19 March 2002: Members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, walk past a CH-47D Chinook helicopter after their return to the military air base at Kandahar from Bagram Air Base. The soldiers were part of the recent fight in the Paktia province. A group of about 75 soldiers arrived Tuesday, and officials plan to have the majority of the members of the 101st involved in the fighting in Paktia back on base by the weekend. The CH-47D Chinook pictured above is undergoing maintenance. Of note are the cargo straps around the fuselage of the helicopter. This is usually an indication that someone left the tunnel covers unsecured and another helicopter hovered by, tearing loose the hinges and sheetmetal that fasten them. |
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| Royal Air Force ground crew members and technicians walk across the tarmac at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan after arriving from Kabul on RAF Chinook helicopters Friday, 29 March 2002. The crew was flown in to prepare Bagram Air Base for the main force of 1700 commandos expected to arrive over the next week to replace part of the American force in Afghanistan. |
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| Two U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopters, operated by B Company - "Hercules", take off over earthquake hit Nahrin, in Afghanistan on Thursday, 28 March 2002. U.S. and British forces delivered 86 tons of supplies to villagers affected by the earthquake which killed hundreds on Monday, 25 March 2002. |
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| A British Royal Air Force (RAF) HC Mark II crew member performs preflight checks on the runway at Bagram Air Base, with the Hindu Kush mountains as a backdrop, in Afghanistan on Thursday, 28 March 2002. Advance parties have arrived over the last two weeks to prepare for the main body of 1,700 commandos expected to arrive in the coming week. The HC Mark II is the British version of the American CH-47D Chinook helicopter. The RAF unit of assignment was unknown, however in March 2002, UK Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced in the House of Commons, that three Chinook helicopters of 27 Squadron, Royal Air Force, would be deployed to Afghanistan. |
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