No U.S. ground forces involved in Afghan raid to free prisoners: U.S. military

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - No U.S. ground forces were involved in an Afghan raid that freed 60 prisoners held in a Taliban jail, a U.S. military spokesman said on Friday. An earlier statement on Friday by the U.S. military said a joint Afghan-U.S. raid freed 40 members of Afghanistan's security forces from the Taliban jail in the volatile southern province of Helmand. "This was an independent Afghan operation," said Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan. "The only support that the U.S. provided was intelligence support and surveillance overwatch during the operation." He said the raid freed 60 prisoners. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)