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U.S. soldier killed in Afghan firefight

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. Special Forces soldier killed Sunday in Afghanistan was ambushed while taking part in Operation Mountain Lion, designed to locate, isolate and destroy al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Monday.

The Pentagon identified the soldier as Sgt. Gene Arden Vance Jr., 38, of Morgantown, West Virginia. He was a member of the 19th Special Forces Group of the West Virginia National Guard. His body has been flown to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, en route to West Virginia.

He died of gunshot wounds, said Gen. Gregory S. Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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An allied Afghan fighter also was wounded during the firefight in eastern Afghanistan near the village of Shkin.

"We had a mounted patrol operating in the area," said Newbold. "It was Afghanistan military forces with U.S. Special Forces as they moved through an area they were surveilling, they were taken under fire and rounds struck the vehicle, hitting the soldier and one of the Afghan soldiers at the same time."

Newbold said allied forces returned fire, killing at least one enemy soldier.

U.S. forces patrolling eastern Afghanistan are now encountering small groups of enemy fighters, compared with the large contingents they found earlier in the operation.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said the al Qaeda terrorist network will be difficult to defeat.

"Any organization that can pull off what they pulled off on September 11, you think about the organization and the planning and the resources that went into that, clearly, they have some organizational capabilities that aren't going to go away over night" said Clarke.

She said administration officials also believe, as Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday, that another terrorist strike is likely.

"They have made clear their intent, they have made clear their desire to harm and kill Americans. It clearly is an organization with some real capabilities to have pulled off what they pulled off on 9-11," said Clarke.

"And all the planning that went into that, you must believe there must have been something else in the pipeline."