for "nightline," muhammad lila many afghanistan. >> thanks for the brave reporting there for muhammada. thank you for

our muhammad lila is with us tonight. here is his exclusive reporting tonight. >> reporter: we set out at sunrise. the mission, help the afghan army reclaim the valley from the taliban. walking through this valley, it's clear this is an afghan led mission. it's their strategy and it's their fight. it didn't take long for the fight to find us. [ gunfire ] we were walking through the valley when suddenly we started hearing gunshots and loud explosions. we believe we may have walked into a bit of an ambush. possibly now, we're caught in the crossfire. we can hear the gunshots coming from up there on that ridge. what you hear on this side -- [ gunshots ] -- that's the afghan army. they are leading this fight. they are the ones returning the fire. >> where's that coming from? >> reporter: with mortars and heavy machine gun fire surrounding us, american soldiers get involved. >> i think they're up there. >> reporter: but they aren't in charge of this fight. the afghans are. the americans are hoping they can handle it on their o

abc's muhammad lila was imbedded with the troops. >> reporter: we set out at sunrise. the mission, help the afghan army regain this region from the taliban. >> that was a taliban flag in the village. >> reporter: this is an afghan-led mission. it's their strategy and their fight. didn't take long for the fight to find us. we were walking through the valley, when we suddenly heard gunshots and loud explosions. we believe we may have walked into a bit of an ambush. possibly now caught in the cross fire. we can hear the shots coming from behind that ridge. that's the afghan army. they are leading this fight. they are the ones returning the fire. with mortars and heavy machine gunfire surrounding us, american soldiers get involved. >> there has to be somebody up there. >> reporter: they aren't in charge of this fight. the afghans are. the americans hoping they can handle it on their own. with casualties mounting, tempers flare. afghans argue and fight among themselves. in the end, the afghans realize they still need american help. they demand american fighter jets bail the