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| Afghanistan |
| Battery of artillery deployed at Kandahar... |
| 2002-09-12 |
| The U.S. military has deployed artillery to Afghanistan for the first time, giving ground forces the ability to counter mortar and rocket attacks by al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. A senior military official said the Army has deployed six 105mm howitzers at the main U.S. base in the southern city of Kandahar as part of an effort to bolster protection of the 8,000 American troops in the country. The howitzers, equipped with counter-fire radar, enable U.S. forces to pinpoint the location of enemy mortar and rocket fire and respond with artillery shells. A spokesman for Central Command, which is overseeing the war, declined to comment on the reason for the deployment yesterday. It involves elements of the 82nd Airborne's 319th Field Artillery Regiment. What's to comment? I understand the counterbattery radars have gotten pretty good with the faster components available in the past few years. When Mahmoud swallows a couple 105mm surprises he might move on to some other, less dangerous, harrassing tactic. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |