War Wounded Treated in Germany

Nine American special operations troops and a Canadian journalist wounded in confrontations in Afghanistan were flown to the U.S. military hospital here for treatment, doctors said Thursday.

The service members, evacuated from the tense Operation Anaconda theater in eastern Afghanistan, were in stable condition, but reporter Kathleen Kenna of the Toronto Star suffered critical injuries and remained unconscious after surgery on extensive thigh wounds, Air Force surgeon Maj. Mark D. Ervin said.

Because of the secrecy imposed on their mission, none of the troops--seven from the Army and two from the Navy--could be identified. No details of the circumstances in which they were injured were released, and they weren’t allowed to meet with reporters.

“The injuries were all weapon injuries. They were all injured from bullets or fragmentary devices,” Ervin told a news conference after the patients, who arrived late Wednesday from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, were examined. “In this group of patients there were no significant central injuries to the chest or to the abdomen.”

Ervin said no surgery was considered necessary for the nine, most of whom will be transported to the United States within a few days.

“They are all doing well. Their spirits are very good. All were able to speak with their families,” said Lt. Melanie Sparks, an Army nurse. “They are all looking forward to going home, but at the same time, having to leave their units is something they are dealing with.”

As many as 40 U.S. troops have been wounded in the fierce clashes near Gardez as U.S.-led forces try to defeat hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda holdouts.

More of the wounded are being brought to the Landstuhl hospital for treatment, officials here said.

Kenna, 48, was traveling away from the battle zone when an unidentified Afghan threw a grenade into the car in which she, her husband-translator, a Toronto Star photographer and a driver were traveling.

Kenna’s husband, Iranian-born U.S. citizen Hadi Dadashian, told journalists about the attack, which occurred Monday afternoon as they were driving to Gardez from the front-line village of Zormat. They had been headed for the battle zone when Afghan fighters, presumably employed by coalition forces to secure the area, told them to turn back, Dadashian said.

They had been traveling for about 20 minutes when Dadashian noticed an Afghan man approaching his side of the car with something in his hand.

“I saw this Afghan throwing something like a rock against my window,” Dadashian recounted. He said no one realized it was a grenade until his wife said she had been hit.

“Luckily, some five minutes later, there was this car passing by,” which was carrying a medic from the aid group Doctors Without Borders, he said.

Kenna was later flown to Bagram air base north of Kabul, the Afghan capital, where she underwent surgery, and was sent on to Incirlik, where she was treated and evacuated with the wounded troops.

The helicopter lift from Gardez to Bagram flew directly over the area of Operation Anaconda, Dadashian said. “We were flying right over the war zone with the back door open and two soldiers with night-vision [headgear] pointing out with their guns.”

Doctors at Landstuhl have told Dadashian that they expect Kenna to recover. He described his wife as “a good fighter” likely to bounce back despite the severity of her injuries and ordeal.

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Special correspondent Retzlaff reported from Landstuhl and Times staff writer Williams from Moscow.