Briefing after US troops came under fire, several Afghans killed

(14 Apr 2002) 1. Hilferty 2. Cutaway man holding microphone 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Major Bryan Hilferty, US Military Spokesman "Afghan and coalition military forces detained several suspected al-Qaida members last night in one area. We found weapons and ammunition in two other locations. We also received ineffective enemy fire at another location. We returned fire from the ground and the air and killed several terrorists." 4. Hilferty 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Major Bryan Hilferty, US Military Spokesman "US special forces and Afghan allies were fired on at night. We returned fire. We bought in an AC-130 gunship and we believe we killed several terrorists." 6. Troops on runway 7. Various, troops waiting on runway 8. Helicopter hovering above gun 9. Cutaway, soldiers 10. Various helicopter lifting gun 11. Soldiers crouching on runway 12. Various helicopters dropping off equipment 13. Cutaway old man sitting 14. Various helicopters dropping off equipment STORYLINE: American-led forces were shot at while on patrol in Afghanistan and believe they killed "several terrorists" when they returned fire, a US military spokesman said on Sunday. After weeks of no reported combat with al-Qaida or Taliban fighters, Major Bryan Hilferty said a joint patrol of Afghan soldiers and US special forces came under fire on Saturday. He would not say where the attack happened, but said no Afghans or Americans were hurt. The incident occurred before dawn and the allied soldiers called in an AC-130 gunship to drive off the attackers, Hilferty said, speaking from the US base at Bagram, about an hour north of Kabul. Elsewhere, US special forces and Afghan soldiers detained several suspected enemy fighters, bringing the total number of prisoners held in Afghanistan to around 300, Hilferty said. He would not say where they were captured nor the circumstances. At two other unspecified locations in Afghanistan on Saturday, allied troops found more weapons caches, documents, ammunition and equipment, Hilferty said without elaboration. US and other coalition troops have been searching the mountains of southeastern Afghanistan for al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives since the end of Operation Anaconda last month. The operation targeted al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Paktia province northwest of Khost. The Khost area is where a further incident occurred overnight on Saturday. Unidentified people fired three rockets at the US-controlled airstrip outside the southeastern city, according to a local leader. The area near the Pakistani border is believed to be one of the last Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...