British Soldier Lost During Rescue
by admin on Sep.10, 2009, under Combat, Rescues
A journalist and his translator had been captured when they were covering the NATO airstrike that resulted in approximately 70 people killed. They were taken by Taliban members and were being held in northern Afghanistan. In the fray of the rescue, a soldier was killed along with the journalist’s translator, Sultan Munadi.
A British soldier serving with the special forces support group has been killed during a pre-dawn raid to free a British journalist being held by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, it was confirmed today.
The reporter’s interpreter also died in the operation.
Stephen Farrell, a New York Times journalist, and his translator, Sultan Munadi, were captured last Saturday as they reported on the aftermath of a Nato air strike in which at least 70 people were killed.
Early today, Farrell said he had been “extracted” after a helicopter carrying British and Afghan soldiers swooped on a compound near the northern city of Kunduz.
“We were all in a room, the Talibs all ran … it was obviously a raid,” the 46-year-old told his editors in New York.
The Kunduz governor’s office confirmed that the raid had been led by British special forces.
Military officials told the Guardian that the soldier who died was a member of the special forces support group.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that a British soldier, believed to be a paratrooper, was killed during the operation. Two Afghan civilians were killed in the crossfire, the BBC reported.
“We regret to announce that a British soldier has been killed on operations in Afghanistan,” an MoD spokesman said.
The number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2001 now stands at 213, with 41 having died in July and August.
A spokesman for Gordon Brown said the prime minister had spoken to the UK’s leading military commander in Afghanistan, General Jim Dutton, “to thank the [rescue] team for the tremendous effort”.
In a statement, the prime minister paid tribute to the courage of the British soldier who was killed in the raid. “His family has been informed, and our immediate thoughts are with them. His bravery will not be forgotten,” said Brown.
Brown said Farrell was “now safe and well, receiving support from embassy staff and undergoing medical checks.” Read on…
