US troops lost weapons to ISIS in firefight
August 10, 2016 01:25
American soldiers helping Afghan troops fight Islamic State militants in Afghanistan were forced to abandon sensitive equipment and weapons when their position came under fire, a US military official said on Tuesday.
Islamic State fighters recently circulated photos of a rocket launcher, grenades, ammunition, identification cards, and an encrypted radio among other equipment that they said they had seized.
US military spokesman General Charles Cleveland denied that any American positions or personnel were overrun.
"We have been able to determine that the I.D. card and most of the pictured equipment was lost during recent operations in southern Nangarhar," he said in a statement, referring to an eastern province.
The soldiers at the time had established a location to handle casualties, which is a routine step in any operation, Cleveland said.
At one point, the location came under "effective enemy fire" and the soldiers were forced to move to a safer position, he said.
"In the course of moving the (casualty collection point) to a safe location, some equipment was left behind," Cleveland said.
"For understandable reasons, the lives of soldiers were not put at risk to recover the equipment."
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