U.S. Attacks Near Copter Crash Site

American fighter planes bombed a suspected insurgent compound in the same eastern area of Afghanistan where a team of U.S. soldiers has gone missing, military officials said Saturday.

A Taliban spokesman said more than 25 militants were killed in the airstrikes Friday, but U.S. military officials said it was too soon to estimate casualties.

“We do not know the results of the airstrikes. The battle assessments are ongoing,” said Lt. Cindy Moore, a U.S. spokeswoman.

The airstrikes were a continuation of operations in mountainous Kunar province, where a Chinook helicopter was shot down Tuesday by rebel forces, killing all 16 service personnel on board.

The Chinook had been called in to assist the ground team in fighting Al Qaeda and Taliban militants but crashed into a mountainside after being targeted by rocket-propelled grenades.

On Saturday, the Pentagon identified the eight Navy SEALs on board the Chinook as Chief Petty Officer Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans; Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, N.H.; Lt. Cmdr. Erik S. Kristensen, 33, of San Diego; and Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffery A. Lucas, 33, of Corbett, Ore.

Also, Lt. Michael M. McGreevy Jr., 30, of Portville, N.Y.; Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, Nev.; Petty Officer 2nd Class James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; and Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey S. Taylor, 30, of Midway, W. Va.

Hundreds of U.S. and Afghan forces have since been scouring the area’s deep ravines in the hope of finding the special reconnaissance team, which has been out of contact for several days.

Moore did not comment on reports that rebels had captured members of the missing team.

“There is a good chance that the soldiers are being held hostage by the rebel fighters,” said Gov. Asadullah Wafa of Kunar. “These rebels have an agenda.”

Also Saturday, in the mountains of central Oruzgan province, Afghan soldiers attacked a Taliban hide-out where about 100 insurgents are thought to have been camped, Afghan security forces said. Two soldiers and 18 rebels were killed, they said.

The attack was in response to the kidnapping and killings of nine Oruzgan tribal leaders by Taliban militants. More than 45 people have been slain in the area in four days.

In Paktika province, meanwhile, six local United Nations security personnel were killed when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, according to early reports.

With landmark parliamentary elections scheduled for September, violence has surged in the last three months. About 500 suspected insurgents, 49 Afghan police and soldiers, 140 civilians, and 45 U.S. troops have been killed since March.

The instability has spread fear through the country, especially in southern provinces with Pushtun majorities, the same ethnic group as the Taliban.

Many believe that Taliban and Al Qaeda militants have joined forces with other rebel groups to destabilize election preparations and prevent a long-term U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

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Times staff writer Tony Perry in San Diego contributed to this report.