On at least one occasion, they used horses to raid Russian border troops – themselves mounted, Isby said.He said horses are the second best way to get men and supplies to the front in mountainous terrain, next to helicopters. But neither he nor Ramsey thought a frontal cavalry assault on Taliban tanks or artillery was in the cards."You wouldn't charge a tank, that would be stupid," Ramsey, 84, said by phone from Los Angeles. But on certain ground, a mounted fighter can make trouble for a machine."We had a few people who crawled up the back of tanks in the middle of a fight and put grenades into them."Ramsey described a hurriedly organized charge by members of his 26th Cavalry platoon on Jan. 16, 1942 – 27 men firing pistols from their saddles in a headlong raid against an advance guard of Japanese infantry and artillery in the Bataan Peninsula village of Morong."We took the town after a fight and held it until the main body of our troops arrived," he said. In hospital with a mortar wound, he learned the horses had been slaughtered for hungry soldiers.Soon, the Philippines fell to Japan, U.S. soldiers surrendered there en masse and died by the thousands in the Bataan Death March; Ramsey escaped.Patricia Bright, executive director of the U.S. Cavalry Association at Fort Riley, Kansas, said the attack by Ramsey's 26th Cavalry platoon – or Philippine Scouts – brought an end to warfare on horseback by the American military.

Even that was a rarity by the 1940s.President Harry Truman dissolved the last mounted units in 1950.From Afghanistan, TV footage has shown alliance troops thundering into the distance on horseback, to destinations unknown."I see a bunch of Afghans running around on horses," Ramsey said. "If they were going against the Taliban, I would urge them on."There are those of us who believe we should have kept a little cavalry for ourselves.". Three protesters were shot dead by police in Pakistan today during a national stirke called to protest against President Pervez Musharraf's support for the US bombing of Afghanistan. Three protesters were shot dead by police in Pakistan today during a national stirke called to protest against President Pervez Musharraf's support for the US bombing of Afghanistan. Violence broke out in D.G.

Khan, where about 1,000 protesters blocked the railway track and the main highway running through the city, 300 miles south of the capital Islamabad.The protesters placed large rocks on the highway, and sat on the rail line, and then threw stones and fired shots when police tried to remove them, authorities said.Police responded with live fire, killing three protesters, according to Deputy Mayor Hafiz Khalid.The Afghan Defence Council, an alliance of 35 Islamic groups, organized the strike to denounce General Musharraf and to express support for Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement."After today's successful strike Musharraf has no right to remain in power after and he should step down", said Maulana Samiul Haq, head of council.In the volatile port city of Karachi, about 200 students blocked a road with burning tires and threw stones at vehicles traveling on nearby streets. Police used baton charges and tear gas to disperse the group.Also, Pakistan authorities arrested an estimated 500 activists throughout the country in overnight raids in an attempt to limit the scale of the protests, government officials said. Those detained were expected to be released tonight after the threat of unrest receded, the officials added.Islamic groups have been staging protests every Friday for the past two months. Attempting to take some of the momentum out of the strike call, the government also declared Friday a public holiday marking the birthday of Mohammad Iqbal, a philosopher and poet who called for the creation of Pakistan in 1930.The streets in the major cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi were much quieter than usual for a Friday. It was not clear how much was linked to the holiday, and how much was attributable to the strike call.The government said Friday's strike was partial and transport was available, while organizers said the strike was a success.. Explosions resounded on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul, as US warplanes kept up bombing raids on positions held by soldiers of the ruling Taliban.