Battle of Qala-i-Jangi

Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
Part of the War in Afghanistan and the Afghan Civil War
Johnny Michael Spann's memorial at Qala-i-Jangi in 2007.
Date 25 November 2001 – 1 December 2001 (6 days) Location Qala-i-Jangi, Balkh Province, Afghanistan 36°40′N 66°59′E / 36.667°N 66.983°E / 36.667; 66.983Coordinates: 36°40′N 66°59′E / 36.667°N 66.983°E / 36.667; 66.983 Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
Coalition: Northern Alliance  United States  United Kingdom	Prisoners: Taliban al-Qaeda IMU Turkistan Islamic Party
Commanders and leaders
General Abdul Rashid Dostum Major Mark E. Mitchell
Strength
Unknown	Estimated 300–500
Casualties and losses
A number of Afghans and 1 American killed	86 re-captured, the rest killed

The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi (also incorrectly referred to as the "Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif") was a prisoner-of-war camp uprising that took place between November 25 and December 1, 2001, in northern Afghanistan, following the armed intervention by United States-led coalition forces to try to overthrow the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which it had accused of harboring al-Qaeda operatives.

Hundreds of men, including many non-Afghans, surrendered near Kunduz and were being held as enemy combatants at Qala-i-Jangi fortress by the Afghan Northern Alliance (United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan) forces for an interrogation by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel interested in al-Qaeda suspects. The prisoners 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, seven 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 "Mike" 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.

In late November 2001, with their military situation in northern Afghanistan becoming critical, many Taliban field commanders agreed to surrender to the Northern Alliance General Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of the ethnic-Uzbek dominated National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, outside the besieged city of Kunduz. Hundreds of Al Ansar "guest" foreign fighters (mostly from Pakistan and Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East) also surrendered their weapons, including a large group that had arrived in a convoy one day earlier to a place 100 km away of the agreed capitulation site, close to Mazar-i-Sharif. Dostum described the Taliban surrender as a "great victory" for the Alliance, a bloodless success that would allow the future reconciliation of citizens of Afghanistan. Thousands of prisoners were transported to the Sheberghan Prison (it was alleged that many of them died due to mistreatment during and after the transport).

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