Marines walk into insurgent 'trap' in Afghanistan; 4 die
McClatchy's Jonathan S. Landay talks about the ambush of U.S. and Afghan troops he was embedded with on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009. For reporter, no doubt: 'I'd use the rifle if I had to'
By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers
GANGIGAL, Afghanistan — Four U.S. Marines died Tuesday when they walked into a well-laid ambush by insurgents in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. Seven Afghan troops and an interpreter for the Marine commander also died in the ambush and the subsequent battle, which lasted some seven hours.
Three American service members and 14 Afghan security force members were wounded.
It was the largest number of American military trainers to die in a single incident since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
The battle took place around the remote hamlet of Gangigal, in a valley about six miles from the Pakistani border, after local elders invited the U.S. and Afghan forces for a meeting.
American officers said there was no doubt that they'd walked into a trap, as the insurgents were dug in at the village, and had preset their weapons and their fields of fire.
McClatchy Newspapers 2009
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