The week-long sweep by US forces in August to hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in eastern Afghanistan was a ‘‘disaster’’ rather than a resounding success as officially claimed, with US soldiers being accused of terrorising innocent villagers, a media report said. American soldiers of Army’s 82nd airborne succeeded mainly in ‘‘terrorising innocent villagers’’ and ‘‘setting back’’ counter-insurgency and intelligence operations in the areas by at least six months, Newsweek quoted witnesses as claiming in its upcoming issue. However, officers of the 82nd said their men did nothing wrong. Public-affairs officers even characterised the special forces involved in the sweep as ‘‘prima donnas’’ who were damaging war effort by complaining to the press, the magazine said. Since March, some 50 soldiers from several special forces A-teams have been operating in eastern Afghanistan. On August 19, Newsweek said, American commanders sent some 600 action-hungry members of the Army’s 82nd airborne division, charging into the area. ‘‘We just couldn’t believe they were acting that way. Every time we turned around they were doing something stupid,’’ team members said. Special forces working in the region said that since the sweep, the stream of friendly intelligence on weapons caches, mines and terrorist activity has dried up. After the mission, the two SF teams submitted an ‘‘after-action review.’’ Newsweek said that it has not seen the document, but found its contents through sources. The accounts from villagers and local officials in the area back up the special forces’ version of what happened in the operation. Officers involved have been accused of leaking classified reports to Newsweek and subjected to internal military investigations, the report said.
