KABUL, Afghanistan -- The mountainous region where two CIA operatives were killed on the Pakistani border often sees the heaviest combat in the country, treacherous ground for al Qaeda marauders that the U.S. military calls "the most evil place in Afghanistan."\nThe CIA said Tuesday that William Carlson, 43, of Southern Pines, N.C., and Christopher Glenn Mueller, 32, of San Diego were ambushed and killed Saturday near the village in Shkin in Paktika province while "tracking terrorists."\nBoth were veterans of military special operations forces, the agency said, who were working for the CIA's Directorate of Operations that conducts clandestine intelligence-gathering and covert operations.\nThe ambush happened on the same day and in the same area as a six-hour firefight where U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan militia killed 18 fighters. Six Afghan militia were wounded in the fighting, where coalition warplanes and helicopters were called in for airstrikes.\nThe attackers in that Saturday battle belonged to the al Qaeda terror network, U.S. military spokesman Col. Rodney Davis said Wednesday.\nDavis declined to comment on the CIA deaths or whether the two men were involved in the same battle. But he said soldiers in that area from the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division are involved in some of the heaviest fighting of any coalition forces across Afghanistan, engaging in battle several times a month.\n"No secrets there, Shkin is a hot place," said Davis, adding that it has earned the distinction of being "the most evil place in Afghanistan."\n"That's where we've seen, over time, al Qaeda operatives surface," he said.\nThe base at Shkin, 135 miles south of Kabul, is the most forward position for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Davis said, making it a natural target for those opposed to the American presence. The terrain is also some of the most challenging for soldiers, with mountain peaks rising as high as 11,000 feet and harsh weather conditions.\nDavis declined to say the attackers were based in neighboring Pakistan, but acknowledged that "they retreat in the direction of Pakistan."\nMohammed Ali Jalali, the governor of Paktika province, said the fighters -- mostly Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks -- ride into Afghanistan from Pakistan on motorcycles, armed with Kalashnikovs, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.\n"There is no control, control is very difficult," he said.\nThe skies over the area where Carlson and Mueller died are also regularly filled with the whir of U.S. helicopters patrolling the border, said Sadokhan Ambarkhil, deputy governor of Paktika. "It's a normal thing," he said of military operations there.\nAlso Wednesday, Davis said coalition and Afghan militia had come under a surprise attack Monday near another base in Paktika province near Orgun, 105 miles south of Kabul, sparking a two-hour battle before the unknown number of hostile forces retreated. Three U.S. soldiers suffered minor shrapnel wounds and have returned to duty.\nDavis acknowledged there has been a spike in fighting across Afghanistan in recent months. "The enemy is definitely attempting a resurgence," he said. "They are failing miserably."
\nCarlson and Mueller are the third and fourth CIA operatives that the agency has acknowledged have been killed in Afghanistan in the line of duty since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"William Carlson and Christopher Mueller were defined by dedication and courage," CIA Director George J. Tenet said in a statement. "Their sacrifice for the peoples of the United States and Afghanistan must never be forgotten."\nThe CIA statement said the agency consulted with the dead officers' families and decided their names could be released without compromising continuing operations.\nThe first CIA casualty, paramilitary officer Johnny Micheal Spann, was killed Nov. 25, 2001 during an uprising of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners at a fortress where they were being held outside the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. The second, Helge Boes, died Feb. 5, 2003 in a training accident in eastern Afghanistan.
