VIDEO: US troops sent to advise Afghan forces drawn into firefight

VIDEO: US troops sent to advise Afghan forces drawn into firefight
Stars and Stripes
By Jad Sleiman
Published: September 26, 2014

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Earlier this month, Dragon Troop returned to Combat Outpost Kherwar, which was turned over to the Afghan National Army in 2011, to help coordinate a major clearance operation against Taliban forces in the area.

They were the first American soldiers to set foot in this remote corner of Logar province in more than three years. Deployed to support an Afghan battalion, they did not intend to engage in combat. The Taliban, however, had other plans for them.

When early success against the militants left the Afghans with more territory than they could control, Gen. Abdul Raziq asked the Americans to cover for the last days of the mission.

The Americans agreed to help, and their advise-and-assist mission quickly turned to open combat.

“Our role wasn’t really to fight,” said Lt. Graham Hennig, a platoon leader with Dragon Troop. “It just so happened that the fight crept it’s way up to us.”
read more here