Military

DATE=3/4/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN/PENTAGON UPDATE (L-O)

NUMBER=2-287125

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A U-S helicopter has been shot down in heavy fighting with al-Qaida and Taleban forces in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least six Americans. Correspondent Alex Belida reports from the Pentagon that a seventh U-S soldier has been killed in a separate incident involving a second helicopter.

TEXT: Details of the downing remain murky. But a Pentagon spokeswoman, Victoria Clarke, confirms there have been American casualties.

/// CLARKE ACT ///

An M-H-47 was fired upon and went down. We have some small numbers of U-S troops killed. We do not have an exact number for you. We do not know how many may have died as a result of the crash versus small arms fire.

/// END ACT ///

A senior Defense official later told reporters six Americans had been killed. The same senior official also revealed a second American helicopter came under fire, an incident that claimed at least one U-S soldier's life.

The latest American casualties come amid the largest military action in the Afghan war. The Pentagon says more than one-thousand U-S troops along with allied Afghan soldiers and troops from several coalition countries are involved.

They have been attacking a concentration of several-hundred al-Qaida and Taleban fighters south of Gardez in eastern Afghanistan.

When word of the offensive first emerged Saturday, the Pentagon confirmed one American soldier had been killed along with three Afghan fighters.

In addition, the Pentagon says there have been three-dozen or more U-S soldiers wounded.

The ground offensive has been accompanied by a large-scale air operation that has seen jet fighters, bombers, A-C-130 gunships, and attack helicopters striking at al-Qaida and Taleban targets. (SIGNED)

NEB/BEL/RAE