Two U.S. copters fired upon while
recovering wreckage in Pakistan
By Sandra Jontz, Washington
bureau
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. helicopters retrieving the wreckage of a downed Black Hawk
helicopter managed to return safely to their base after coming under light fire in
Pakistan on Monday, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The crewmembers had prepared the wreckage for transport, but left the load at the site
for a preplanned refueling.
The recovery crews were at a nearby Pakistani airfield refueling when they encountered
"light and unorganized" retaliation fire from somewhere near the airfield, said
Lt. Col. George Rhynedance.
Pentagon officials don’t know who shot at the crews, he said.
The Black Hawk crashed Saturday in Pakistan, about 60 miles south of the Afghanistan
border, Rhynedance said.
The crash killed two Army Rangers. The Black Hawk and its crew had been on standby to
retrieve, if needed, commandos who participated in a raid on a Taliban compound airfield
in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said.
The two transport helicopters, one of which had held the wreckage in a sling load, had
set down its cargo in order to refuel, said Rhynedance, declining to disclose the site of
the Pakistani airfield.
As soon as the two crews came under attack, they aborted the mission, returned fire and
withdrew from the location, he said.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said there were no reports of casualties at the
site.
Rhynedance did not know if the crews hit anyone who had been firing upon the
helicopters.
The crews who left the wreckage behind will attempt to retrieve it at a later date,
Rhynedance said. The Pakistani government, which has pledged support to the United States,
will help in the recovery mission, he said.
The incident comes amid continuing demonstrations by Islamic militants in Pakistan who
want to expel Americans supporting the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, the
Associated Press reported.
Beginning Oct. 7, U.S. and British forces have been attacking Afghanistan’s
Taliban regime for refusing to hand over terrorist Osama bin Laden, thought to be the
mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. soil.
The AP reported that near one Pakistani base used by U.S. personnel, police Tuesday
erected blockades and sandbag bunkers against mass demonstrations after militants vowed to
storm the facility. More than 100 people had been arrested after a protest at Jacobabad,
site of Shahbaz Air Base.
The Pentagon has refuted claims by the Taliban that they downed the Black Hawk in
Saturday’s mission. Taliban officials, in video footage broadcast on the Al-Jazeera
television station in the Middle East and now seen around the world, are seen standing
around a large helicopter wheel.
A Chinook helicopter lost its front wheels and a piece of undercarriage when it hit a
wall as it transported Special Forces troops into Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said.
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