When the helicopter carrying a squad from Navy SEAL team 6 crashed in Wardak province, early media accounts said that the SEALs were conducting a raid on a meeting of Taliban leaders.
Later, media accounts said that Army Rangers were conducting the raid, and that the SEALs had been rushed in to assist or rescue the Ranger team, which had been pinned down under fire.
Officials leaked considerable detail of the operation. That the SEAL team had been in a hot Instant Reaction Force role. Or that they had been in a more general Quick Reaction Force role, and were scrambled to assist. That a local insurgent patrol had happened to spot the Rangers as they moved in on the meeting target. Or that the Rangers had first spotted the insurgents, as the Rangers moved in.
Yesterday, General John Allen, commander of ISAF and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, gave a press briefing at which he said the Navy SEALs had not been flown in to rescue the Rangers, but were called in to chase low level insurgents fleeing from the engagement.
The military initially said that the troops -- including 22 Navy SEALs -- who died on Saturday were on their way to rescue a contingent of Army Rangers who were pinned down by insurgents, only to drop that account on Wednesday. Now officials say the troops were sent to apprehend fleeing militants, a far lower-level mission that could have been carried out by smaller numbers of conventional forces. The Rangers had been sent to Wardak Province, a violent and sparsely-populated region of the country, in pursuit of a local Taliban commander thought to control a small network of local fighters.
Mission Unnecessary, Yochi J. Dreazen, National Journal
Seal Team 6 operations are conducted under the highest levels of secrecy. This diary collects some known facts in the matter.
How many Navy SEALs died?
- 17 (Department of Defense, Navy Times).
- 19 (Asia Times, Wired).
- A number greater than 20 and less than or equal to 20 (MSNBC).
- A number equal to 17 and equal to 22 (Wikipedia).
- 22 (AP, Atlantic, CBC, CBS, Daily Mail, Foreign Policy, Fox, Guardian, Independent, LA Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, New York Daily News, New York Times, PBS, Reuters, UPI, USA Today, Voice of America, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post).
How many of the SEALs were from the unit that had killed Osama bin Laden?
Who was flying the helicopter mission?
- Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (AP, Independent).
- Specifically not Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Army Times).
When was the helicopter shot down?
- On the way there, or as it was about to land (CBS, Christian Science Monitor, Department of Defense, PBS, Time, Voice of America, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times).
- On the way back, or as it was taking off (AFP, AP, Asia Times, BBC, USA Today, Wired).
The Investigation, and the Followup Operation
The weapon used to shoot down the helicopter is suspected to be an RPG. An investigation will be held, hoping to determine this and other facts.
The particular insurgent who had fired the RPG has been tracked down, and was killed by an F-16 strike. (General John Allen, ISAF and U.S. commander, Afghanistan).