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Battle
Mazar-i-Sharif
The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif (or Mazar-e-Sharif) in November 2001 resulted from
the first major offensive of the Afghanistan War after American intervention. A
push into the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province by the United Islamic
Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (Northern Alliance), combined with U.S.
Army Special Forces aerial bombardment, resulted in the withdrawal of Taliban
forces who had held the city since 1998. After the fall of outlying villages,
and an intensive bombardment, the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces withdrew from the
city. Several hundred pro-Taliban fighters were killed. Approximately 500 were
captured, and approximately 1,000 reportedly defected. The capture of
Mazar-i-Sharif was the first major defeat for the Taliban.
Kunduz
Battle of
Qali-i-Jangi
The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi (sometimes also referred to as the "Battle of
Mazar-i-Sharif") was a six-day military engagement following an uprising
of prisoners-of-war on November 25, 2001. The battle took place between
November 25 and December 1, 2001, in northern Afghanistan. It followed the
intervention by United States-led coalition forces to overthrow the Taliban's
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had been harboring al-Qaeda operatives.
More than 400 foreign fighters surrendered outside Mazar-i-Sharif and were held
at Qala-i-Jangi fortress by the Afghan Northern Alliance forces, where they
were interrogated by Abdul Rashid Dostum's intelligence officers and Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel hunting al-Qaeda suspects. The prisoners,
who had not been searched properly when they surrendered, violently revolted
and the ensuing fighting escalated into one of the bloodiest engagements of the
conflict. It took Northern Alliance fighters, assisted by British and American
special forces and air support, six days to quell the revolt. All but 86
prisoners were killed as well as a number of Northern Alliance fighters. The
only U.S. fatality was the CIA officer Johnny Micheal Spann, the first American
to be killed in combat during the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Among the
surviving prisoners were two American citizens suspected of fighting with the
Taliban: Yaser Esam Hamdi and John Walker Lindh. Five American troops were
wounded at Qala-i-Jangi on November 26, 2001, and were awarded the first Purple
Hearts of the Afghanistan war. Navy SEALs Master Chief Petty Officer Stephen R.
Bass was awarded a Navy Cross and Green Beret Major Mark Mitchell a
Distinguished Service Cross for actions during the battle. The CIA's David N.
Tyson was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Cross and Spann a posthumous
Intelligence Star. SBS members, Captain Jess and Corporal Tony, were awarded
the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross
Qala-i_Jangi
Qala-i-Jangi is a 19th-century fortress located near Mazar-i-Sharif in northern
Afghanistan. It is known for being the site of a bloody 2001 Taliban uprising
named the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, in which at least 470 people were killed,
including CIA agent Johnny "Mike" Spann. It served as Northern
Alliance General Abdul Rashid Dostum's military garrison during the opening
stages of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). The fort was built in 1889
by Abdur Rahman, the 19th-century “Iron Amir,” the first ruler to
unite Afghanistan. Then known as Dehdadi after the village nearby, it was built
with British funds and intended both to defend against Russian invasion and to
suppress revolts by Uzbek tribes. Rahman described it as "the largest and
strongest fort that had ever been built in Afghanistan." It took 18,000
workers 12 years to complete it. In 1929, about 300 Russian troops were
besieged inside the fort by 20,000 Turkmens. The name Qala-i-Jangi was probably
not given to the fort until the 1940s. The Russians, with Dostum’s
support, occupied it again after their 1979 invasion. Mujahideen attacked
Qala-i Jangi in 1981, removing 170 pro-Soviet Afghan soldiers. The Taliban
occupied the fort for most of the time from 1994 to 2001. Abdul Rashid Dostum,
of the Northern Alliance held the fort briefly in 1997, with 20,000 militia. In
2001, the fort was 600 yards (550 m) long, 300 yards (270 m) wide. It was
constructed out of wooden beams, mud and straw. At each corner a mud tower rose
80 feet (24 m) high and 150 feet (46 m) across. Rainfall of 4 inches (100 mm)
annually enabled the structure to avoid liquification. It was a walled city,
divided evenly into northern and southern courtyards by an 80 feet (24 m) wall.
It contained a gold-domed mosque, a 75 feet (23 m) square "Pink
House," erected in the 1980s by the occupying Soviet Union, as a medical
facility. On November 26, 2001, the north-eastern tower was destroyed by an
errant American JDAM missile.
Kandahar
Tora Bora
The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in the cave
complex of Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, from December 6–17, 2001,
during the opening stages of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was
launched by the United States and its allies with the objective to capture or
kill Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant organization
al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden were suspected of being responsible for the
September 11 attacks three months prior. Tora Bora is located in the White
Mountains near the Khyber Pass. The U.S. stated that al-Qaeda had its
headquarters there and that it was Bin Laden's location at the time.
Operation
Anaconda also terms the Battle of Shahikot -The Shah-i-Kot Valley (also
Shahi-Kot, Shah-e-Kot and other variant spellings) is a valley in Afghanistan's
Paktia province, southeast of the town of Zormat. The terrain in and around the
valley is notoriously rugged, located at a mean altitude of 9,000 feet (2,700
m). Shah-i-Kot means "Place of the King" and it has historically been
a safe haven for Afghan guerrillas hiding from foreign invaders.
Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002
as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with
their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation
took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat. This
operation was the first large-scale battle in the post-2001 War in Afghanistan
since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. This was the first operation in
the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. forces participating
in direct combat activities. Between March 2 and March 16, 2002 1,700 airlifted
U.S. troops and 1,000 pro-government Afghan militia battled between 300 and
1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters to obtain control of the valley. The
Taliban and al-Qaeda forces fired mortars and heavy machine guns from
entrenched positions in the caves and ridges of the mountainous terrain at U.S.
forces attempting to secure the area. Afghan Taliban commander Maulavi
Saif-ur-Rehman Mansoor later led Taliban reinforcements to join the battle.
U.S. forces had estimated the strength of the rebels in the Shahi-Kot Valley at
150 to 200, but later information suggested the actual strength was of 500 to
1,000 fighters. The U.S. forces estimated they had killed at least 500 fighters
over the duration of the battle, however journalists later noted that only 23
bodies were found – and critics suggested that after a couple days, the
operation "was more driven by media obsession, than military
necessity".
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