One U.S. Marine was killed and another injured in an overnight attack on a patrol in southern Afghanistan, the military said Saturday, in the Marines' first loss to hostile fire in Afghanistan. The Marines were fired on by militants south of Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Tucker Mansager. Spokeswoman Capt. Cindy Beam said the Marines were attacked during a patrol through Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces. She gave no further details of the clash, but said the injured Marine underwent surgery at the U.S. military base near Kandahar city for "multiple gunshot wounds to the lower extremities." She did not give further details about the soldier's condition, and neither victim was identified.
A 2,000-strong Marine force was recently deployed in Uruzgan to bolster the fight against resurgent Pakistani Taliban-led militants. It was unclear if the two were part of that force. Marines are also operating in eastern Kunar province and guard facilities including the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The troops from the special operations-capable 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, began arriving in Afghanistan in late March and have set up a new base near Tirin Kot. Mansager said the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan had swelled to 20,000 - up from about 11,000 late last year. Part of the increase was down to "overlap" during a routine rotation of units, he said, but declined to say how many would remain once the switch is complete.
| Deepest sympathies to the family and comrades of our fallen Marine. |
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