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KABUL, Afghanistan Afghanis marked the 25th anniversary Friday of their victory over Soviet Russian troops and the birth of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan with parades and speeches.

The public holiday celebrates todays date in 1992 when the Mujahedeen rebel forces overthrew Mohammad Najibullah's pro-Soviet Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

The occasion, referred to locally as Hashte Saur, is a day in which former Mujahedeen fighters and present-day soldiers and supporters march on bases or streets, history is recited, national songs traditionally sung by the "holy warriors" in the trenches are brought back, mosque prayers are directed to those who lost their lives and iconic green Mujahedeen flags are flown.

"Over 13 years, we lost two-and-a-half million of our people, 7 million refugees fled and many were maimed," Commander Ahmad Muslem Hayat, a former Mujahedeen military chief proudly told Fox News in Kabul. "Today we are celebrating our struggle against and defeat of the communists and Russian occupation."

Chaos was kindled in 1978 after Afghanistan's self-proclaimed prime minister, Mohammed Daoud Khan, was assassinated during the Saur Revolution, which was led by the socialist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). The PDPA then promptly seized power. But as more and more groups emerged in opposition to the communist leanings of the leadership, the PDPA government sought help from the U.S.S.R.

The following year, the brutal Soviet warstarted and soon thereafter,the seemingly intractable U.S. involvement in the country started, too, as American officials covertly armed andaided the Mujahedeen against the Cold War enemy.

For the soft-spoken and multilingual Hayat, the memories leading up the conflicts outbreak remain vivid. He said growing up his father always feared communism as the "monster of the world," one that would deprive them of their freedom and force them into atheism. At just 17 years old in 1979, Hayat was a student at the military academy in Kabul but a vocal opponent of that monster, the PDPA leadership. After his activism against the regime was discovered, he was expelled.

A few days later, forces surrounded Hayat's family home and broke down the door in the dead of the night. He was arrested and taken into a torture cell at Sadarat by the secret spy police, the NDS, where his sternum was shattered by the knee of an interrogator and his body was endlessly barraged by electric shocks that "felt like a thousand bullets," he said.

"All day you would hear constant screaming. Dead bodies were everywhere. The rooms were filled with prisoners -- girls and boys -- all educated, professional people," Hayat recalled. "The communists told us that listening to the BBC was a crime. They told us they did not care how many people they had to kill because Afghanistan only needs 3 million, not 30 million, people to keep them in power."

Hayat was "luckily" released weeks later when Afghan politician and founding PDPA member Nur Muhammed Taraki was killed. More determined than ever, the young Hayat finished his military training over the border in Peshawar, Pakistan, and joined his distant relative -- the widely hailed hero and perhaps most powerful Mujahedeen leader Ahmad Shar Massoud -- north of Kabul in the north-central Panjshir Valley, by the Hindu Kush mountain range.

"Massoud was the true leader of the freedom fighters. He trained fighters but also believed in justice and formed his own council to build schools and roads," Hayat said.

But Hayat himself led groups of fighters against the Soviet and communist forces in the Panjshir Valley and other areas of Afghanistan. His efforts are credited with killing more enemy forces than most others rebel groups. He frequently ambushed the feared Spetznaz, Soviet special forces, and even he is still amazed that he survived the war.

Two days before Sept. 11, 2001, Massoud, who was deemed friendly to the West and a natural future leader of Afghanistan, was assassinated in a suicide bombing by Al Qaeda operatives. In the view of some regional experts,Massoud was anathema to Usama bin Laden's xenophobic extremism and the then Al Qaeda leader was calculated in ridding Afghanistan of a U.S. ally less than 48 hours before directing planes into New York and Washington buildings.

Hayat insisted that such extremists have since corrupted the significance of what it truly means to fight in the name of jihad, which is what mujahedeen literally means. He said it is often the most stable and secure pockets of Afghanistan that are that way because they are protected by devoted, unpaid former Mujahedeen.

"Former Mujahedeen are very popular with the people, and the Taliban despises this," Hayat noted. "The Taliban has two enemies: Mujahedeen and the Americans."

Over the last decade, the Afghanistan government has been forced to cancel public celebrations of April 28 due to security concerns and Taliban threats. Hayat said this year was no different, but they refuse to be silenced. Even in Taliban strongholds like Helmand Province, smaller-scale celebrations and marching took place before Friday prayers.

"We will not let them stop us from celebrating this day," Hayat added with a shrug and a smile. "On this day, we won."

Hollie McKay has been a FoxNews.com staff reporter since 2007. She has reported extensively from the Middle East on the rise and fall of terrorist groups such as ISIS in Iraq. Follow her on twitter at @holliesmckay

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Afghanistan's people celebrate nation's 25th birthday, victory over Russia - Fox News

Two Army Rangers killed during a raid on an Islamic State compound in eastern Afghanistan may have died as a result of friendly fire during the opening minutes of the fierce, three-hour firefight, the Pentagon said Friday.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the U.S. military is investigating to see if they were accidentally killed by ground fire from Afghan commandos or other American forces. He said the deaths did not appear deliberate.

According to Davis, the head of the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, Abdul Haseeb Logari, was the target of the Wednesday raid. He said officials suspect that Logari, the emir of what's called the Islamic State Khorasan group, was among several key leaders killed, but haven't confirmed that. Logari was in charge of the Afghanistan affiliate's command and control and it's connections with the broader Islamic State group and it's leaders.

About 35 other enemy fighters were killed and one other Army Ranger received a minor head wound during the battle, but was able to stay with the assault force.

"This was a dangerous mission and we knew this going in," Davis told Pentagon reporters. "This was the leader of ISIS in Afghanistan. We knew that he was going to be well protected and that they were going to fight very hard to prevent him from being captured or killed. And that is indeed what happened."

About 50 Army Rangers and 40 Afghan commandos were dropped off by helicopter around 10:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, for the raid in Nangarhar Province's, Mohmand Valley. They were on the ground for about four-and-a-half hours.

"Within minutes of the insertion the combined force came under intense fire from multiple directions. It was during these initial moments of the raid that the two Rangers were mortally wounded," Davis said. He added that the U.S. and Afghan troops were being fired on from prepared positions on all sides, and that the compound was heavily fortified and contained a network of tunnels.

Davis said manned and unmanned aircraft, including AC-130 gunships, Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter jets, were used to support the raid and provide airstrikes to defend the force on the ground and evacuate the wounded.

The military headquarters in Kabul said in a statement that the U.S. and Afghan forces were able to accomplish the mission without civilian casualties, including women and children in the compound.

The compound is located about one or two kilometers (roughly one mile) from the site where the U.S., two weeks ago, dropped what is called the "mother of all bombs" on an IS complex.

The bombing came just days after a U.S. Army special forces soldier was killed in the region. The bomb is the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S., and it killed several dozen militants.

Asked whether the friendly fire came from Afghan troops, Davis said, "we were there in a partnered raid with Afghan forces and some of the initial indications led us to believe that that's a possibility." He said it could have been either Afghans or U.S. forces, and a formal investigation is underway.

Killed in the firefight were Army Sgts. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Illinois, and Cameron H. Thomas, 23, of Kettering, Ohio. The families of the two Rangers have been told it was possible they died from friendly fire.

The U.S. has been battling the Islamic State group in Afghanistan for months and estimates that the group now includes about some 800 to 1,000 fighters there.

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Friendly fire investigation launched in deaths of 2 Army Rangers in Afghanistan - Chicago Tribune

ISLAMABAD The Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive on Friday, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the launch of the offensive in an emailed statement that boasted of Taliban control over more than half of the country, referring to a February report issued by Washingtons special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction.

That report said the Afghan government had control or influence over only 52 percent of Afghanistans 407 districts last year, down from 63.4 percent previously.

The Taliban dubbed this years offensive Operation Mansouri, named for the Taliban leader killed last year in a U.S. drone strike.

Hence, keeping the evolving situation in mind, this years Mansouri operations will differ from previous ones in nature and will be conducted with a twin-tracked political and military approach, said Mujahid. He did not make any mention of peace talks with the government.

Attempts to find a peaceful end to Afghanistans protracted war have been relentlessly unsuccessful.

On the political side, Mujahid said the Taliban were going to begin building institutions in areas under their control, establishing what he called social justice and development mechanisms.

He didnt offer specifics or indicate whether this meant the Taliban would step up their brand of justice, which during their rule included public executions and the chopping off of hands for those convicted of theft.

Recent Taliban attacks, including one earlier this week on an army base in northern Afghanistan that killed more than 140 Afghan soldiers, would seem to warn of a tough fighting season ahead. In the latest attack, the Taliban disguised as Afghan army soldiers slipped into the compound of the 209 Corps in northern Afghanistans Balkh province. While two militants exploded their suicide vests, the others opened fire on scores of soldiers.

As well as the Taliban, Afghanistan is also battling an emerging local affiliate of the Islamic State group known as Islamic State in Khorasan, which is an ancient name for a region that once included Afghanistan, Iran and parts of Central Asia.

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On Thursday two U.S. Army Rangers were killed and a third incurred minor injuries during a battle against Islamic State fighters in their stronghold in eastern Afghanistans Nangarhar province, according to the U.S. military.

The U.S. forces were accompanying Afghan troops when they came under attack by the Islamic State Khorasan, according to Navy Capt. Bill Salvin, the U.S. military spokesman in Kabul. He said dozens of IS fighters were also killed but because of the remoteness of the region it was impossible to independently confirm the deaths.

The attack occurred in the same area where two weeks ago the U.S. dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on an IS complex.

The U.S. has been aiding the Afghan Security Forces in their battle against the IS in Afghanistan and estimates that the extremist group has about 800 fighters in the country.

Meanwhile Friday an Afghan Parliamentarian said the Taliban captured a remote district in the countrys northeastern Badakhshan Province. Mohammad Zekria Sawda said the district fell after heavy fighting. In an emailed statement the Taliban also claimed the district, while Badakhshans deputy governor Mohammad Bidar said fighting between Afghan Security Forces and the Taliban was still intense in the area. He also said it was difficult to determine the number of casualties because of the remoteness of the region.

The Talibans announcement of the offensive coincides with the anniversary of Afghanistans so-called Saur Revolution against its pro-Russian rulers, which led to a 10-year uprising by U.S.-backed Islamic insurgents or mujahedeen against an invading Soviet army. The Soviets withdrew defeated in 1989.

Associated Press writers Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

Link:
Talilban announces spring offensive in Afghanistan - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

New York Times

2 US Service Members Killed in Afghanistan, Pentagon Says New York Times WASHINGTON Two American service members were killed and a third was wounded Wednesday night in an operation in the same part of Afghanistan where the military dropped its most powerful conventional weapon two weeks ago, the Pentagon said. 2 US Servicemembers Killed While Fighting In AfghanistanNPR Four steps to winning peace in AfghanistanWashington Post Two US Army Rangers Killed in Anti-ISIS Raid in Eastern AfghanistanNBCNews.com Washington Examiner -TIME -CNN all 215 news articles »

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2 US Service Members Killed in Afghanistan, Pentagon Says - New York Times

Two soldiers were killed in fighting during an operation in eastern Afghanistan Thursday. One of the soldiers was identified as a 23-year-old from Kettering, Ohio. (Dept. of Defense/MGN Online)

A 23-year-old from a Dayton suburb was one of the soldiers killed during an operation in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense confirmed Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas from Kettering, and Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, from Bloomington, Illinois died "as a result of small arms fire".

The soldiers were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning in Georgia.

The Pentagon said the soldiers were killed during an operation against the Afghanistan-based Islamic State group in Nangahar Province in the eastern part of the country. The U.S. has been battling the Islamic State Khorasan group in Afghanistan for months. About two weeks ago, the U.S. dropped what's called the "mother of all bombs" on an IS complex in Nangahar Province, just days after a U.S. Army special forces soldier was killed in the region.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown released a statement about Thomas' death, saying: As parents, Ohioans and Americans, our hearts break for Sgt. Thomas family. Connie and I express our deepest sympathies to everyone who knew and loved him. No words can express the debt of gratitude we owe to Sgt. Thomas and his family, but we can promise their sacrifice will not be forgotten and we will work to honor their service to our country by supporting our veterans and all those still serving.

The Pentagon says the incident is still under investigation.

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Dayton-area native killed fighting against ISIS group in Afghanistan - ABC6OnYourSide.com