Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif

Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif
Part of the War in Afghanistan
U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers with Northern Alliance fighters at Mazar-i-Sharif on 10 November 2001
Date 9 November 2001 – 10 November 2001 (1 day) Location Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan Result Northern Alliance and American victory
Belligerents
Northern Alliance  United States	Taliban al-Qaeda IMU Turkistan Islamic Party Foreign fighters
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Rashid Dostum Atta Muhammad Nur Mohammad Mohaqiq Tommy Franks	Jumma Kasimov (KIA) Fazil Mazloom (captured) Nurullah Nuri (captured) Abdul-Razzaq Nafiz (WIA) Abdul-Qahir Usmani (WIA) (captured)
Casualties and losses
8 Junbish-i-Milli Islami and 30 Jamiat-e Islami fighters killed	300+ killed,~500 captured and ~1,000 defected

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, including many Pakistani volunteers, 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.

The Taliban recaptured the city in 1997 and controlled it thereafter.

The decision to launch the war's first major strike against Mazar-i-Sharif came following a meeting between U.S. Army General Tommy Franks and Northern Alliance commander Mohammed Fahim in Tajikistan on October 30, 2001.

In the days leading up to the battle, Northern Alliance troops advanced on population centers near the city, such as Shol Ghar, which is 25 kilometers from Mazar-i-Sharif. Phonelines into the city were severed, and American officials began reporting accounts of anti-Taliban forces charging Afghan tanks on horseback. On November 2, 2001, Green Berets from ODA 543 and small elements of the CIA SAD inserted into the Dari-a-Balkh Valley, after being delayed by weather for several nights, its role was to support General Mohammed Atta Nur and his militia. Together they fought through the Dari-e-Souf Valley and had linked up with General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his force and ODA 595 and the CIA team supporting Dostrum, who had also battled through the valley, outside Mazar-e-Shariff.

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