Simple Afghan mission turns deadly for U.S. soldiers

By Jonathon Burch

CHAHAR BAGH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The mission was simple.

Some 20 U.S. soldiers were to patrol a riverbed in the dead of night, camp until morning, and provide backup to Afghan troops and their Canadian mentors in a clearing operation in Chahar Bagh village, an insurgent hotbed on the outskirts of Kandahar City.

Less than 12 hours later, seven of the soldiers and their Afghan interpreter would be dead, killed by a massive homemade bomb buried deep under pebbles along the dried-out riverbed.

The attack illustrates how a more aggressive U.S. military strategy of going into Taliban strongholds risks mounting casualties as President Barack Obama weighs whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan. The initial operation this week passed without incident. Around 200 Afghan soldiers and their Canadian trainers pushed through the village of mud houses surrounded by lush pomegranate orchards. A handful of men were arrested for later questioning.

The U.S. soldiers were not needed.

"What are you going to write about? This is some boring ass mission," one 1st Platoon soldier joked with a reporter as the sun rose behind a cragged mountain towering over the village.

The soldiers -- small groups from three platoons of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 17th Infantry Regiment Stryker Brigade -- had pushed out from their base at around midnight. Not far from Chahar Bagh village, they dismounted from their armored Stryker vehicles and continued on foot.

Setting up in the riverbed alongside the village, the soldiers kept watch and waited. As the sun rose across the river valley, they jibed with each other and talked about life back home.

By mid-morning, the operation was over. Three Stryker vehicles rumbled toward 2nd Platoon men waiting further down the riverbed to bring them back to base.

As the vehicles returned with the soldiers on board, a huge explosion sent rocks and sand flying high into the air. The first Stryker had hit a massive IED or improvised explosive device, flipping the 20 metric tons vehicle onto its side.

The thick armored plate beneath the Stryker had been blown straight through the floor and the roof. Pieces of metal and debris lay strewn around the wreckage.

Minutes earlier, 1st Platoon soldiers had set off on foot, passing right over the site of the bomb, to meet their own waiting vehicles. As they mounted their Strykers, less than 400 meters away, the explosion tore through the air.

"Oh s**t! Get in! Get in!" yelled 1st Platoon Sergeant First Class Kelekolio Paresa to his soldiers and accompanying reporters as the men scrambled into the vehicles.

"I got, I got, seven KIA (killed in action) and an Afghan interpreter KIA!" a broken voice came across the radio.

"S**t, we gotta go back and help!" shouted Paresa. The 1st Platoon Strykers turned around and raced back. As they reached the scene, gunfire broke out. Insurgents, laying in wait, were firing at the Strykers from orchards next to the village.