British special forces are on the ground in Libya helping to spearhead the hunt for Col Muammar Gaddafi,

British special forces are on the ground in Libya helping to spearhead the hunt for Col Muammar Gaddafi, The Daily Telegraph has disclosed.
Soldiers from 22 SAS Regiment are reported to be guiding rebel soldiers after being ordered in by David Cameron.
With the majority of the capital now in rebel hands, the SAS soldiers, who have been dressed in Arab civilian clothing and carrying the same weapons as the rebels, have been ordered to switch their focus to the search for Gaddafi, who has been on the run since his fortified headquarters was captured on Tuesday.
Libya’s National Transitional Council said Gaddafi was wanted “dead or alive” and promised an amnesty to any of his inner circle prepared to betray his whereabouts.

Tripoli hospital has received the bodies of 17 civilians believed to have been executed in recent days by government forces in Muammar Gaddafi's compound in the capital

Tripoli hospital has received the bodies of 17 civilians believed to have been executed in recent days by government forces in Muammar Gaddafi's compound in the capital, a British medical worker said on Thursday.

"Yesterday a truck arrived at the hospital with 17 dead bodies," Kirsty Campbell of the International Medical Corps told Reuters.

"These guys were rounded up 10 days ago. They were found in Bab al-Aziziya when the guys (rebel fighters) went in. These guys were shot in an execution there," she said.

The wounds were not battlefield injuries, she said.

Rebel fighters overran the fortified Bab al-Aziziya complex, the centre of Gaddafi's power, on Tuesday.

She said there had been reports of more bodies, but added: "I myself counted 17 last night."

Campbell said family members had identified the victims.

Four Italian journalists kidnapped and held by suspected loyalists of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi have been freed, according to Italy's foreign ministry.

Four Italian journalists kidnapped and held by suspected loyalists of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi have been freed, according to Italy's foreign ministry.

The journalists were reportedly freed during a raid on the house in Tripoli in which they were being held.

They were abducted and their driver was killed on Wednesday west of the capital, the ministry had said.

One of them had told the Italian consul in Benghazi by phone that they were in good health.

Milan-based daily Corriere della Sera named the four as its journalists Elisabetta Rosaspina and Giuseppe Sarcina, Domenico Quirico from Turin-based La Stampa and Claudio Monici, from Avvenire, the daily of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference.

On Wednesday, the journalists were stopped on a highway between Tripoli and Zawiya by a group of civilians, who handed them over to forces faithful to Col Gaddafi, the paper's website said.

Italy has been part of Nato's bombing campaign against Col Gaddafi's forces.

US helicopter 'shot down' by Taliban in Afghanistan

A US helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan has killed 31 US special forces and seven Afghan soldiers, President Hamid Karzai's office says.

The helicopter was taking the personnel back to their base after an operation.

Neither the US nor Nato have confirmed the cause, but witnesses, officials and the Taliban say it was shot down.

The incident is believed to be the biggest single loss of life for US forces in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.

The Chinook helicopter went down overnight in Wardak province, the statement from President Karzai's office said.

It was returning from an operation against the Taliban in which eight insurgents are believed to have been killed.

A senior official of President Barack Obama's administration said the helicopter was apparently shot down, Associated Press news agency said.

An official with the Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan told the New York Times the helicopter was shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade.

'Enemy activity'
"The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expresses his sympathy and deep condolences to US President Barack Obama and the family of the victims," the statement from Hamid Karzai said.



President Obama, too, issued a statement paying tribute to the Americans and Afghans who died in the crash.

"We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied. We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country," the statement said.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force has confirmed the helicopter crash but has not released details of casualties or the cause.

ABC News said 25 Navy Seals were on board, plus seven Afghan special forces soldiers, five crew and one interpreter.

Nato said it was mounting an operation to recover the helicopter and find out why it crashed. It said there had been "enemy activity in the area" where it went down.

A Taliban spokesman said insurgents had brought down the helicopter with a rocket after US and Afghan troops attacked a house in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak where insurgents were meeting late on Friday, Associated Press said.

Sayd Abad, near the province of Kabul, is known to have a strong Taliban presence.

A Wardak government spokesman quoted by AFP news agency agreed with this, saying the helicopter was hit as it was taking off.

A local resident told the BBC Pashto service a rocket hit the helicopter.

"What we saw was that when we having our pre-dawn (Ramadan) meal, Americans landed some soldiers for an early raid," said Mohammad Wali Wardag.

"This other helicopter also came for the raid. We were outside our rooms on a veranda and saw this helicopter flying very low, it was hit by a rocket and it was on fire. It started coming down and crashed just away from our home close to the river."


There are currently about 140,000 foreign troops - about 100,000 of them American - in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban insurgency and training local troops to take over security.

All foreign combat forces are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and some troop withdrawals have already taken place.

Nato has begun the process of handing over control of security in some areas to local forces, with Bamiyan becoming the first province to pass to Afghan control in mid-July.

An increase in US troop numbers last year has had some success combating the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan, but attacks in the north, which was previously relatively quiet, have picked up in recent months.

 

A helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan has killed 31 US special forces and seven Afghan soldiers

A helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan has killed 31 US special forces and seven Afghan soldiers, according to President Hamid Karzai's office.

It is not clear how the crash happened, but the Taliban have said they shot the helicopter down.

The incident is believed to be the biggest single loss of life for US forces in Afghanistan since they began operations in 2001.

Halim Fidai, the governor of Wardak province, where the incident happened, thinks this attack is not necessarily an indication that the Taliban are winning the conflict in Afghanistan.