[size=4]Special Operations troops in commando raid[/size=4]
[b]2 U.S. soldiers killed in Pakistan crash[/b]

WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. Special Operations troops launched and completed an overnight raid into Afghanistan, U.S. officials told CNN Friday night.

[b]Two soldiers died in a helicopter crash in Pakistan while backing up the operation, officials said. The crash occurred as they prepared to perform search-and-rescue operations if necessary, they added[/b]. (Full story)

More than 100 troops, including U.S. Army Rangers, flew in helicopters to their unspecified target near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and stayed there for several hours, the officials said. There was no word on what the commandos' mission was or whether it was achieved, [b]but apparently it involved a Taliban leadership target[/b].

All of the helicopters are out of Afghan airspace now, the official said late Friday night, Washington time. The commandos' helicopters had been launched from the USS Kitty Hawk in the Arabian Sea, officials said. The commandos' mission was backed by fixed-wing aircraft, including AC-130 gunships. (Full story)

President Bush, on a visit to China, held a one-hour videoconference with his national security team Saturday morning to be briefed on the operation, an administration official told CNN.

Word of U.S. ground troops in Afghanistan came as U.S. forces continued to pound the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar from the air Friday night. CNN sources in Kandahar reported heavy bombing, with a number of explosions. They also reported seeing U.S. AC-130 gunships over the city.

Speaking to reporters en route to a military base in Missouri, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defined the U.S. mission in Afghanistan with some of the starkest terms to date, saying it "will be over when the Taliban and al Qaeda are gone." (Full story)

Meanwhile, the Bush administration began talks Friday with the United Nations' top official on Afghanistan regarding a future government in Kabul. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Richard Haas, the State Department director of policy planning, met Friday with Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister who is now the chief U.N. envoy for Afghanistan. (Full story)

U.N. and U.S. administration officials say Brahimi's job will be to work with the various Afghan opposition groups to settle their differences and come up with a formula for a new government.

See remainder of story at: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/19/gen.attack.on.terror/[/url]

Eric The(TwoSoldiersAreTwoTooMany!)Hun[>]:)]

This was posted earlier, when CBS broke the story at about 5:30. Didnt collect many posts, now has slipped page five.

Rather odd...

Wish they would hurry up and tell us if they caught anyone important...

I wonder if this has anything to do with the 8 jailed western workers.

Oliver north questioned if it were army rangers
backing up delta.

That seems to be the MO that works... The Rangers provide the security/back up and Delta makes the hit. Coulda been SEALs too though.
Be nice to hear what happened.

That could be true, but it could also be just a Ranger only raid. They have been being extreamly careful to not bomb things that were too close to civilian housing. They may have just sent them in to take down a few such targets with controlled demolitions.

We'll see, tomorrow probably.

Be nice if they videotaped it.

Oh yeah thats right! The Spookies DO have cameras! Hope they release that film. They didnt in Panama, Iraq, and Bosnia because of flying body parts... at least according to rumor. Same with a lot of Apache gun camera film. They would show the Hellfires at work on tanks, but NOT the 30mm fireing on troops.