CNN: DID ARMY HAVE INTELLIGENCE BEFORE DEADLY AFGHAN CLASH THAT KILLED NINE U.S. SOLDIERS?

Military looking at intelligence before deadly Afghan clash

Names and hometowns of 9 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghan attack

Story Highlights
Army unit trying to set up observation post when attacked
Nine soldiers killed Sunday in fight with about 200 Taliban insurgents
Pentagon begins formal probe of battle
British say troops kill Taliban leaders

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/17/afghan.probe/index.html#cnnSTCText

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A formal investigation into an attack on a U.S. Army unit by about 200 Taliban insurgents will examine whether the Army had intelligence about a possible assault and whether the troops had access to it.

Taliban militants take up a defensive position at a undisclosed in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on Saturday.

The fact-finding mission was launched Thursday, several military officials said, after nine American soldiers were killed in Sunday's assault in Afghanistan.

When the attack occurred, the U.S. and Afghan soldiers were scouting for a location in the remote area to set up a coalition observation point. The Taliban never breached the main coalition base near the village of Wanat in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan.
It was the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in three years, underscoring how the conflict is escalating.

Since May, the deaths of U.S. and allied troops have far outpaced the toll in Iraq. On Thursday, the toll in Afghanistan was 21, compared with six in Iraq.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not provide the nationality of a soldier who died in Afghanistan on Thursday. See casualty figures for Afghanistan, Iraq »

U.S. military officials are searching for ways to send more troops to Afghanistan in response to urgent requests from commanders there, given the increase in violence. Watch how U.S. trying to boost Afghan force »

U.S. soldiers killedThe Defense Department on Wednesday identified the U.S. soldiers killed Sunday when their outpost was overrun in Afghanistan. • 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Aiea, Hawaii. • Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, California. • Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Georgia. • Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Washington. • Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tennessee. • Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Georgia. • Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, North Carolina. • Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Missouri. • Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Kentucky.

A senior U.S. Army official says "all options are on the table," including the possibility of diverting a combat brigade of up to 3,000 troops to Afghanistan later this year. Those troops are now scheduled to go to Iraq.

The commanders are asking for troops as soon as possible. Several officials say it's most likely that the fastest option would be to send a small number of "enabler" troops such as security forces, helicopter units and surveillance aircraft. There is a Marine Corps unit in the region on standby for emergencies that could be sent, officials said.

In Afghanistan on Thursday, local security forces and coalition soldiers in western Afghanistan killed several insurgents in what the NATO command called a "successful operation against high-priority Taliban targets."

The operation took place in the Shindand district of Herat province. Two Taliban leaders, Haji Dawlat Khan and Haji Nasrullah Khan, and a "significant number of other insurgents" were killed, according to a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

There was no evidence of civilian casualties or accidental damage in the operation, in which a "number of men were discovered handcuffed and imprisoned in appalling conditions in one of the insurgent compounds."

One of the toughest fronts in the war has been the southern province of Helmand.
In Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, the British Defense Ministry said, British troops killed a senior Taliban leader.