Operation anaconda
Allied intelligence indicated that a mixed force of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters had gathered in the area, preparing to mount attacks against the Afghan Interim Government. forces involved in the operation numbered about 1,200, and they were aided by local Afghans and backed by helicopter support. Operation Anaconda took place some 100 miles south of Kabul in the mountainous region near Gardez, in Paktia Province. The allied troops succeeded in killing between 350 and 550 of the enemy, with the loss of 11 lives among their own ranks. Army forces and Afghan allies, with the objective of ousting al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters from their refuge in Paktia Province. One of them moved the box, which exploded, officials said.ĬNN Correspondents Nic Robertson, David Ensor, Martin Savidge and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.Operation Anaconda was mounted on 1 March 2002 by U. They encountered what commanders believe may have been a booby trap – a box discovered while the three were collecting firewood at Kandahar International Airport. While the allied and Afghan forces pressed into Paktia's mountains, three Afghan fighters died Thursday in Kandahar, the former Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. One official termed the area "an awful place to fight a war." The altitude is also near the flight limit for some U.S.
Much of the fighting in the operation is at elevations above 11,000 feet, where thin air makes breathing more difficult. Operation Anaconda began taking shape after intelligence reports indicated enemy forces were preparing a terrorist attack against Afghanistan's interim government, said Maj. Specialists are going through equipment and documents seized in the vicinity of the fighting and "learning things from it," Hilferty said. The United States also has captured al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Also at Ramstein were eight international peacekeepers hurt while they were defusing missiles, an accident that killed five other peacekeepers. Nine Americans arrived Wednesday at the facility, along with a Canadian journalist wounded when a grenade was tossed into her car. They will be treated at the military hospital there. troops arrived Thursday at Ramstein Air Base in Landstuhl, Germany. "We work very hard and take a long time sometimes to engage a target to make sure that it's not a noncombatant," Hilferty said. forces were being patient and careful to make sure they strike the right targets. "They are all blocked, and I can assure you that they are all surrounded." "We have blocked all the routes that they were using previously to bring in reinforcements and to supply the troops," said Abdul Matin Hassankhiel.
A new contingent of attack helicopters was expected, too.Īn Afghan commander said ground battles in Paktia had effectively cut off al Qaeda and non-Afghan Taliban fighting in the mountains. servicemen arriving in the area throughout the day. Despite the conditions, aircraft and ground troops continued moving, with hundreds more U.S. The latest casualty report came on a day when storm-swirled dust hindered operations in the mountainous region of east Afghanistan. Map of Afghanistan showing the location of the fighting