The United States has confirmed the death of a Central Intelligence Agency operative in Afghanistan -- the first known U-S combat casualty.
U-S officials say C-I-A operative Johnny Michael Spann was killed during a bloody three-day riot by Taleban and pro-Taleban foreign prisoners-of-war at a fort near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The captives, who had surrendered at the nearby city of Kunduz, were being questioned when the uprising erupted Sunday.
The anti-Taleban Northern Alliance says as many as 400 prisoners were killed in the revolt, which was quelled with the help of U-S airstrikes and special forces on the ground.
Amnesty International has called for an inquiry into reports that the bodies of hundreds of prisoners killed during the uprising were found with hands tied, indicating they may have been executed.
Meanwhile, a small number of troops from the U-S Army Tenth Mountain Division is reported to have established a forward base near Mazar-e-Sharif as a rapid reaction force in case of new Taleban resistance. The unit had been on duty in neighboring Uzbekistan.