Saturday, 21 January 2012 00:00

Written by Administrator

0 Comments

By the CNN Wire Staff

Allied forces suffered a day of heavy losses in Afghanistan Friday after a helicopter crash killed six U.S. Marines and an attack killed four French soldiers, prompting Paris to consider an early troop withdrawal.

The Marines died after their CH-53 helicopter crashed in Helmand province, a U.S. military official said. The NATO-led force reported no enemy activity in the area, but the Taliban claimed credit for bringing down the chopper.

Separately, an Afghan soldier killed four French soldiers and injured 15 others, one critically, in eastern Afghanistan, French officials said. President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was suspending French training operations and combat help as a result.

"The French army is not in Afghanistan to be shot at by Afghan soldiers," he said.

France could bring its troops back early from Afghanistan if the necessary security is not restored, Sarkozy said. France has 3,935 troops in Afghanistan, according NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Sarkozy will send French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet to Afghanistan, he said.

"It was during a training session inside the base that a shooter killed four of our soldiers. This is unacceptable and demands a full investigation," Longuet said.

A French official told CNN the French troops were unarmed as they were inside their base, conducting normal training operations with their Afghan partners.

The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said 15 soldiers were injured.

The attack in Kapisa province follows a similar shooting last month by an Afghan soldier that killed two French soldiers serving in an engineers' regiment, also in eastern Afghanistan.

Friday's suspected shooter, who was a member of the Afghan National Army, has been apprehended, according to an ISAF statement.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was deeply saddened by incident.

"France has been generous to provide extensive assistance to Afghanistan over the past 10 years," Karzai said. "Throughout history, the two countries have enjoyed a sincere relationship, which the Afghan people will always cherish."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid called the attack "sensible."

"This was the latest attack by those sensible and zealous Afghans who have entered the enemy's army and it was also the best one so far as it killed more soldiers than any other such attacks before,' Mujahid said.

Read The Full Article in The CNN

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 08:25

Written by Administrator

0 Comments

By the CNN Wire Staff

Divers trying to locate survivors of the Costa Concordia cruise ship accident used explosives to blow a hole in the hull of the vessel to allow access for search-and-rescue teams, Italian Navy officials said Tuesday.

A total of 28 people remain missing following the wreck, which led to six deaths, Italian officials said Tuesday.

The list includes 14 Germans, six Italians, including a crew member, four French people, two Americans, and one each from Hungary, India and Peru, all of whom are crew members.

One person on that list was found dead Monday, but authorities have not specified which one it is.

The German Foreign Ministry said earlier Tuesday that 12 Germans were unaccounted for.

The announcement came on the same day that Italy's Coast Guard said it has located a second "black box," or data recorder, from the ship that wrecked off Italy's western coast Friday evening.

Operations were under way to retrieve the recorder, said Coast Guard Warrant Petty Officer Massimo Macaroni.

Information from the device, along with that from another that has already been recovered and is being analyzed by prosecutors, will provide authorities with "a complete picture of how the disaster unfolded," Macaroni said.

Meanwhile, an Italian newspaper printed excerpts of a conversation between the captain and coast guards on shore during the incident.

Capt. Francesco Schettino gave contradictory answers about whether he had abandoned the ship, prompting authorities on shore to instruct him to return to it.

"Commander, this is an order. Now I am in charge. You have abandoned ship," the unnamed coast guard says, telling him to go back to the vessel and coordinate rescue efforts.

Prosecutor Francesco Verusio confirmed that the partial conversation printed in Corriere della Serra matched a transcript prosecutors had.

Authorities questioned Schettino at a closed hearing Tuesday, his attorney said.

He is under arrest and may face charges that include manslaughter, shipwreck, and abandoning a ship when passengers were still on board, Verusio said.

Schettino could face up to 15 years in prison, the prosecutor said.

The captain's attorney, Bruno Leporatti, said in a statement Monday that Schettino was "shattered, dismayed, saddened for the loss of lives and strongly disturbed."

But, he said, Schettino is "nonetheless comforted by the fact that he maintained during those moments the necessary lucidity to put in place a difficult emergency maneuver ... bringing the ship to shallow waters." That move, Leporatti said, saved the lives of many passengers and crew members.

Italian prosecutors have ruled out a technical error as the cause of the incident, saying the captain was on the bridge at the time and had made a "grave error."

Read The Full Article in The CNN