Operation Jacana

Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

Date	April, 2002–July, 2002
Location	Khost province, Paktia Province, Afghanistan
Result	Coalition victory.

Belligerents

Coalition:

United Kingdom,

United States,

Australia,

Norway

Taliban insurgents,

al-Qaeda

Strength

45 Commando: 300
US Special Forces,
Australian SAS,
Norwegian FSK

Number unknown, probably light

Casualties and losses

None

11+ killed and 9 captured

Operation Jacana is the codename for a series of operations carried out by coalition forces in Afghanistan. The operations were carried out most notably by 45 Commando Royal Marines. U.S. forces, Australian SAS and Norwegian FSK also participated. The operation was a follow-up operation of Operation Anaconda and was meant to kill or capture the remaining Al-Qaida and Taliban rebels. The operation has been called a "mopping up" operation after Operation Anaconda. The operation is named after an African bird type, jacana, described in one manual as "shy, retiring, easily overlooked".

Operation Jacana includes the following operations:

All these operations were meant to "clean up" the remaining Al-Qaida and Taliban forces out of the area of operations.

In April 2002, a Royal Marine taskforce had been deployed to Bagram Airbase as part of Operation Ptarmigan: A 5-day operation with the aim is to clear high mountain valleys (up to 11,000 ft, south east of Gardez, searching for Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces and to destroy their bunkers and cave complexes. 400 Marines from the task force discovered a number of previously unknown cave complexes, one of which contained over 20,000 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition in the Shah-i-Kot area, which was destroyed.

More than 400 Royal Marines went into "action" alongside a small number of US and Afghan troops, after the US requested help, they did not encounter Taleban or al-Qaeda- supporting suspicions that many have fled across the nearby border to Pakistan- but there was evidence and indications that the facilities had been used and a coalition troops seized a "great deal" of papers, maps and radios in Shah-i-Kot area which was studied for intelligence information.

By 20 April 2002, a total of nearly 1,700 Royal Marines had been deployed as part of the task force.

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