Battle of Shah-i-Kot

Operation Anaconda
Part of the War in Afghanistan
Date March 1–18, 2002 Location Shahi Kot Valley, Paktia Province, Afghanistan Coordinates: 33°22′N 69°11′E / 33.367°N 69.183°E / 33.367; 69.183 Result Coalition victory, Taliban evacuates but suffers heavy casualties
Belligerents
Coalition:  United States  Australia Afghan Army  United Kingdom  Canada  Germany  France  Norway  Denmark  Turkey  New Zealand	Taliban insurgents al-Qaeda Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Commanders and leaders
Franklin L. Hagenbeck Rowan Tink	Saifur Rehman Mansoor Tohir Yo‘ldosh
Strength
30,000	600 – 1,000
Casualties and losses
15 killed total: 8 (7 in the Battle of Takur Ghar) 82 wounded	23 bodies found United States claimed: 200–800 killed

15 killed total:

23 bodies found

Operation Anaconda took place in early March 2002. 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 United States 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. conventional (i.e. non-Special Operations Forces) 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 Saifur 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".

The Shahi-Kot (which translates as the 'Place of the King') stretches 9km in length and 5km across at its widest point. It is composed of two distinct areas, the Lower and Upper the Shahi-Kot which run roughly parallel to each other. In the Lower Shahikot several imposing mountains dominate the landscape; chief among them is Takur Ghar at the southeastern end of the valley; to the northeast is Tsapare Ghar, dominating the northern entrance to the valley. During the Soviet–Afghan War, Mujahideen leader Malawi Nasrullah Mansoor was in charge of the valley and invited foreign jihadists to base themselves in the Lower Shahikot. Mansoor fortified the valley, digging trench systems, building bunkers and firing positions into the ridgelines, many of which would be put to effect during the operation.

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Wikipedia