The C-130 used to drop leaflets was in the shop for maintenance.
A Republican congressman who previously served as a Navy SEAL commander said Thursday that bureaucratic red tape might have delayed a rescue force and prevented close air support from adequately helping an Army Special Forces team during a firefight in southern Afghanistan this week in which one American was killed.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., questioned if the the rules of engagement in Afghanistan played a role in limiting the support troops on the ground received. They remain “so restrictive that when a unit is pinned down available assets are not given the latitude to respond in a timely manner and it appears in this case that it cost lives,” Zinke said in an interview.
Army Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock, 30, of Des Moines, Washington, was killed Tuesday when his team, along with a detachment of Afghan commandos came under small arms fire. In the ensuing battle, an Army HH-60 helicopter was damaged, forcing it to the ground, while another was waved off because of heavy enemy fire. Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded as were an unknown number of Afghan troops.
Zinke, who said he has been in touch with Special Forces soldiers close to the operation, said that the quick-reaction force was delayed by hours along with close air support sent to help the beleaguered troops. Zinke said that an AC-130 gunship was deployed to support the special forces troops, but was not allowed to fire on the enemy because of concerns of collateral damage. Instead, he said, the aircraft was only allowed to fire into a field.
In light of these reports Zinke has called for a hearing for the Pentagon to explain the exact circumstances of what happened on the ground in Marjah. “There is every indication,” he said, that air support and rescue efforts were “arbitrarily delayed.”