Here's the latest, as of 3:07 pm MST:
Hi everyone
By now I'm sure that you've heard the news reports out of Afghanistan. If not, here's your re-cap: A US Army helicopter went down today losing all 10 soldiers on board. These soldiers were from John's unit however I don't know if John was one of them. From what I know after talking with John on Wednesday he should not have been on any helicopter this week, but things change and I'm not certain of anything right now. They have shut down all communications lines from Afghanistan back here until all families are notified. Please just pray and pray and then pray some more. I'm scared, I'm worried, and I just don't quite know what to do with myself through this waiting. I will let you all know more info when I have it. Hopefully it'll be soon that I have some news for you.
Kim
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This is what we know at around 1 pm MST:
Please, please pray for our friend John Tierney. We just got a call from Kim saying that there was a helicopter crash in Afghanistan about 12 hours ago. There are no survivors. Those who died were in John's unit. He may have been on the helicopter, but we don't know. Please pray for him, please pray for his wife Kim, and please pray for their daughter Maddie. We don't know anything at this point.
Here's the article from BBC World:
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 The Chinook is regularly used as a troop carrier in Afghanistan |
The CH-47 Chinook came down in Kunar province near a "mountaintop landing zone" 240km (150 miles) east of Kabul.
The soldiers were reportedly involved in operations against the Taleban, although military officials said the crash was not caused by enemy fire.
The crash happened near the provincial capital, Asadabad, close to Pakistan.
No survivors
There is a large US military base near the town, in the mountainous border terrain.
"The remains of 10 soldiers were on board the aircraft that crashed last night.
"The remains of 10 servicemen were found in the aircraft. There were no survivors," Lt Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman for the US-led military coalition, said.
In an earlier statement the US military had said that the CH-47 was conducting operations on a mountain top landing zone when the crash occurred.
"Additional aircraft and crews were also at the landing zone and confirmed that enemy forces did not cause the crash," the statement said.
A man claiming to speak for the Taleban told the BBC the militia had shot it down with a new weapon, but correspondents say claims like this have been unsubstantiated in the past.
AfghanistanA major operation against the Taleban, Operation Mountain Lion, was mounted in Kunar province last month.
However, the BBC's Alastair Leithead says the province is one of the most difficult regions of Afghanistan to operate in, with its narrow and deep forested valleys.
The US military has suffered more casualties there than in any other province, our correspondent says.
Worst incident
It was in Kunar that US forces suffered their worst single loss of life in Afghanistan since they first invaded in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks.
One of their helicopters was shot down in late June 2005, killing all 16 special forces and crew on board.
The Chinook had been sent in to rescue a special forces unit on the ground whose mission had been compromised. Three members of that four-man team were also killed.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Friday, two Italian soldiers were killed after their vehicle was hit by a bomb as they were travelling about 20km (12 miles) south of the capital Kabul.
And four Afghans, including two policemen, were also been killed in the southern Helmand province where British troops have just taken over Nato operations.
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