Raiding US troops left behind twin towers photos
US troops raiding Afghanistan have left behind copies of a photograph taken in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
It shows three weary, dust-covered firefighters raising the American flag over the World Trade Centre wreckage.
Army Rangers and Special Forces spread the photographs over their targets before leaving. They were superimposed with the message "Freedom Endures".
The message corresponds to the name given to the US war on terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom.
The photograph appears to be one taken by a photographer for The Record of Hackensack, New Jersey, on the day of the September 11 attacks.
The Pentagon has not confirmed the photo is the one taken by Tom Franklin, but the picture released by the military appears identical to one he took while wandering through the wreckage of the twin towers.
Franklin, 35, photographed the firefighters hoisting a flag plucked from a yacht onto a single flagpole anchored in the rubble about 20ft off the ground.
Using a long lens, he captured the moment from 100ft away, unbeknown to the three firefighters - Dan McWilliams, George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein.
