Afghan opposition fighters undergo surgery on US warship

By ADNAN MALIK
Associated Press Writer

ABOARD THE USS BATAAN – Doctors on this warship operated Friday for a second time on three anti-Taliban fighters who were critically wounded in friendly fire.

The patients were among nine Afghans evacuated to the USS Bataan after a B-52 bomber missed its mark Wednesday, killing six of their comrades and three U.S. soldiers. Twenty U.S. troops and a number of Afghans were wounded.

Capt. Benjamin Newman, the ship's senior Navy doctor, said the wounded Afghans all had multiple injuries and five were critically wounded. They first underwent surgery Thursday, shortly after they were brought aboard. On Friday, three underwent surgery for a second time.

"Some of these patients have reached the maximum care that we can provide. They are going to need long-term care, and we are not prepared for that," Newman said. He said one of those to undergo a second operation Friday was an amputee.

The Bataan is carrying some 2,200 U.S. Marines who are preparing to take over from U.S. troops currently on the ground in Afghanistan.

"We've already integrated our flight schedules, our ship-to-shore movements, and we are moving in our equipment gradually," Bataan's Commanding Officer Capt. Martin Allard told The Associated Press.

Four Harrier jets loaded with laser-guided bombs roared-off the Bataan on Friday. Reporters were not allowed to disclose where they were headed.

The Bataan amphibious group consists of three ships: the USS Bataan, the USS Whidbey Island landing-ship dock and the USS Shreveport landing-platform dock.

AP-WS-12-07-01 0951EST