Marines fire against threat from desert and crashed helicopter on fire

(7 Dec 2001) 1. Wide shot of Camp Rhino 2. Close up of bullet ridden watch tower 3. Soldiers in sandbagged check post 4. Soldier in jeep 5. Close up of soldier in check post 6. Wide shot of airstrip with Helicopters 7. Close up of Helicopter preparing for lift off 8. US ground staff 9. Helicopter taking off 10. Wide shot of US troops in desert camp 11. Various of soldier digging hole 12. Soldier with Machine gun 13. Soldiers in Camp Rhino 14. Various of soldiers checking weapons 15. Close up of hand written sign with "Commander Task Force 58" on it 16. Various of soldiers eating food 17. Various of soldiers cleaning equipment 18. Various of sunset over camp 19. Various "night-vision" shots of Camp Rhino, . 20. Wide shot of camp buildings and burning helicopter on horizon, zoom to burning helicopter (visible as a bright green patch under night-vision) 21. Various wide shots, under natural light, of soldiers near burning helicopter. STORYLINE: U.S. Marines at an airstrip in southern Afghanistan fired mortars to repel what a spokesman said was "almost certainly" an attempt by Taliban forces to scout-out their defenses. Later, a Marine helicopter caught fire after crashing near the base, injuring one Marine on board and one on the ground, officers said. The crash occurred around 1750 GMT. Investigators thought the crash of the UH-1N Huey helicopter was "not related to apparent probing of U.S. lines by enemy forces", Marine Captain Stewart Upton said. In the hour or so before the crash, U.S. Marines had fired dozens of flares and high-explosive rounds from mortars into the surrounding desert in response to what Upton said was "almost certainly" probing by enemy forces. Armoured reconnaissance vehicles were sent into the desert to try to identify the intruders and direct mortar fire. The Marines arrived at the desert airstrip on 25 November, their only combat operation came on their second day, when Cobra helicopter gun ships from the base helped warplanes from elsewhere attack a suspected hostile convoy that passed nearby. Marines from Base Rhino were called into action on Wednesday after an errant U.S. bomb killed three U.S. servicemen and five anti-Taliban Afghan fighters, and wounded 19 Americans and around 20 Afghans. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...