Operation Mountain Fury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Operation Mountain Fury
Part of the War on Terrorism
A soldier searches for weapons caches in the village of Alizai in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.
Date September 16, 2006 — ongoing Location Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktia, Logar Result Ongoing
Combatants
ISAF, Afghan National Army	Taliban insurgents, al-Qaeda
Strength
7,000 [1]	Unknown
Casualties
14 KIA , 130 WIA (U.S.) 12 KIA , 25 WIA (Canada) 2 KIA , 4 WIA (Italy) 2 KIA, 4 WIA (UK) 46 KIA (ANA)	767 Killed, 186 Captured

2001 war in Afghanistan
Tora Bora – Anaconda – Mountain Thrust – Panjwaii – Medusa – Mountain Fury

Operation Mountain Fury is a NATO-led operation begun on September 16, 2006 as a follow up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban rebels from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Another focus of the operation is to enable reconstruction projects such as schools, health-care facilities, and courthouses to take place in the targeted provinces [2].

During the operation, the Taliban have suffered large losses during direct battle with NATO coalition forces; as a result, they are expected to focus more on tactics such as the use of Improvised Explosive Devices, according to sources such as NATO's top commander James L. Jones and Canadian defence minister Gordon O'Connor. [3] Jones also linked the large-scale production of opium to increased insurgent violence. [4]

Contents 1 The Canadians reconstruct 2 The Americans go on the offensive 3 The British attack 4 Timeline of events

[edit] The Canadians reconstruct

The Canadian forces began reconstruction efforts after major combat operations of Operation Medusa had ceased. But they still saw a lot of fighting. Canadian Forces began the construction of a road, code-named "Summit", from the Panjwaii area to outlying areas including Kandahar city. But the Taliban continued to attack them both in Panjwaii and in Kandahar city with ambushes, IED attacks or suicide bombings taking the lives of a dozen Canadian soldiers and some American.

[edit] The Americans go on the offensive

Meanwhile the Americans began their combat operations against the Taliban forces that are entrenched in the mountains on the border with Pakistan in the east in the provinces of Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktia, Logar and Nuristan. The 10th Mountain Division led the charge establishing many remote outposts in regions that were previously Taliban dominated. These outposts came almost under continued attacks as well as did the American combat patrols which resulted in almost 150 casualties inflicted to the Americans in two and a half months by the beginning of December.

[edit] The British attack

On December 5, 2006 the British Marines attacked a Taliban-held valley in southern Afghanistan near Garmser but withdrew after a ferocious counterattack that withstood air strikes and artillery fire. Scores of soldiers ran across a bridge over the Helmand River under a full moon shortly before daybreak and began sweeping south through wheatfields in the south of the province, the opium center of the world's major producer. Marines initially faced only sporadic resistance but when they advanced, Taliban fighters launched a ferocious, organized riposte with heavy weapons and tried to outflank the British troops. The Taliban withstood barrages of air strikes from Apache helicopters, 500 pound bombs dropped by B1 bombers and withering cannon fire from A-10 attack jets before the British finally withdrew after a 10-hour battle. The Taliban fighters, who say they have the expertise to defeat the strongest army, had dug sophisticated networks of trenches often leading from compound to compound. The assault was the latest in a series of battles by British forces around the bridgehead and the short road at the north end of the valley, criss-crossed by networks of ancient canals that make Helmand fertile enough to produce a third of the world's opium crop. The British said they considered the assault a success as they had cleared out areas near the "D.C.," a tiny strip of road and ruined buildings on the eastern side of the Helmand River. But without more Afghan troops to hold the ground there was little hope of doing much more.

[edit] Timeline of events

• September 18, 4 Canadian soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber, another two suicide bombers hit the Afghan police and civilians, killing 4 police as well as numerous civilians.
• September 19, 11 Taliban were killed in offensive operations. On the same day 4 Al-Qaeda operatives were arrested by the Afghan police. Late Tuesday, 16 Taliban were killed by international peacekeepers in the Garmser district.
• September 20, 18 other Taliban were killed in numerous separate engagements on Wednesday, during which 1 Afghan policeman was killed.
• September 21, 4 more Taliban were killed as they attempted to destroy an oil tanker, and 5 were detained by U.S. forces, including a regional commander. One Italian soldier died in a vehicle accident elsewhere. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, authorities detained 10 suspected Taliban with the help of tribal leaders.
• September 23, A couple of days later, the Taliban ambushed a bus carrying workers and killed 19.
• September 24, Afghan and coalition forces killed 63 Taliban in three separate engagements and captured 21 others in a separate operation.
• September 25, Ten Taliban were killed by coalition forces in Paktika [5], while 2 suicide bombers wounded one American soldier and separately 2 Afghan police were killed in a Taliban attack.
• September 26, a Taliban suicide bomber killed 9 Afghan soldiers, while elsewhere 8 Taliban died in explosions and one Italian soldier died. 2 Taliban were arrested in connection with the suicide bombing.
• September 27, another suicide bomber hit just outside a Canadian base, wounding a civilian. And in other operations 31 Taliban were killed and 20 were captured.
• September 29, two Taliban and an Afghan police officer were killed in a clash and elsewhere a Canadian soldier was killed in an explosion.
• September 30, a suicide bomber killed a dozen Afghan civilians.
• October 2, The Taliban attacked a police station and started a gunbattle in Paktika that killed three police and ten Taliban [6].
• October 4 to 6, two suicide bombers killed numerous civilians and a police officer.
• October 6, coalition troops arrested a suicide bomber. A Canadian soldier was killed in an explosion on "ambush alley" in the Battle of Panjwaii.
• October 7, a suicide bomber attacked a NATO base, causing no damage. Elsewhere on the same day, the Taliban attacked a patrol, killing one Canadian soldier. And in Pakistan 48 suspected Taliban were captured. Meanwhile, an offensive by American and Afghan troops killed 30 Talibans.
• October 8, 24 Taliban and 1 Afghan soldier were killed. Two rebels were also arrested. On Monday the 9th, 16 more Taliban and an Afghan soldier were killed.
• October 12, two Taliban suicide bombers hit two patrols, wounding bystanders. Also on Thursday, 20 Taliban were killed in fighting with Afghan and coalition forces.
• October 13, a Taliban suicide bomber hit a NATO patrol, killing one soldier and 8 civilians. Later in the day Afghan police repelled a Taliban attack, killing 3 Taliban.
• October 14, eight Afghan policemen and four Taliban fighters were killed and nine Taliban were taken prisoner. Overnight, a battle between Taliban and Afghan police left 3 Afghan police and at least one Taliban fighter dead. Two Canadian soldiers were killed in combat in Kandahar and two were wounded in the Battle of Panjwaii.
• October 15, coalition forces captured 3 Taliban and killed 4, disrupting a bombing cell.
• October 16, two Taliban suicide bombers killed 4 Afghan civilians. That same day, 3 more insurgents were killed.
• October 17, in an airstrike, NATO forces killed 24 Taliban including a man they designated as a mid-level commander. 24 other Taliban were also killed and another 8 arrested in another incident.
• October 18, ISAF and Afghan forces killed 32 Taliban after an ambush.
• October 19, two Taliban suicide bombers hit, one in Lashkar Gah, and the other in Khost. The first killed two children and the second killed an Afghan police officer. Five Taliban were killed by a NATO airstrike in an encampment in the Gayan district of Paktika province [7].
• October 20, a Taliban suicide bomber killed one afghan soldier and ISAF forces killed one Taliban and captured 4.
• October 22, 15 insurgents were killed after they ambushed an ISAF patrol.
• October 23, 15 Taliban were captured trying to enter Kabul with explosives.
• October 25, 48 Taliban were killed by NATO strikes at 3 separate groups gathering near Kandahar.
• October 28, Up to 70 Taliban were killed when thay attacked a military base north of Tarin Kowt, in Oruzgan province [8]. The battle killed one ISAF soldier.
• October 30, 55 Taliban insurgents were killed and 20 injured, and one NATO soldier was killed, in a six-hour battle in the Daychopan district of Zabul province [9]. Also three NATO soldiers were wounded as Taliban fighters attacked their convoy in eastern Afghanistan.
• October 31, 12 Taliban fighters were killed in an engagement with NATO forces, killing 1 soldier after a roadside bomb killed 3 NATO troops and a suicide bomber killed an Afghan police officer. Also two NATO soldiers were wounded in a suicide bombing in Ghazni Province.
• November 1, 3 militants were killed and one captured by US and Afghan troops in the Khost province. A suicide bomber wounded two NATO soldiers in Kandahar.
• November 3, 6 Afghan police officers were killed in an ambush by Taliban rebels.
• November 4, 7 Taliban are killed in a NATO airstrike.
• November 6, At least two insurgernts are killed by coalition forces and six others are detained, including an Al-Qaeda operative, while one NATO and two Afghan soldiers are killed.
• November 8, 28 militants are killed in two separate engagements, 3 Afghan police are killed in an ambush and three militants are captured by coalition troops.
• November 9, clashes continue, 6 more Taliban killed.
• November 10, NATO forces kill 12 Taliban insurgents.
• November 11, NATO forces bomb a compound in the Bermal district of eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 20 Taliban fighters.
• November 12, NATO forces capture 6 Taliban rebels including an Arab and a Pakistani.
• November 16, Two civilians are accidentally killed by British troops, 6 militants die elsewhere.
• November 23, a mortar attack on a patrol kills one NATO soldier and wounds one.
• November 25, 55 insurgents are killed by Afghan troops, one soldier is killed.
• November 27, a suicide bomber kills 2 NATO soldiers in Kandahar province.
• November 28, two suicide bombers kill one policeman and wound another policeman and one NATO soldier in Herat and Kandahar provinces. Two NATO soldiers are killed and one is wounded when their patrol hits a roadside bomb near Kabul.
• November 29, six insurgents are killed in Kandahar province during an Afghan raid.
• December 1, 16 Taliban are killed and nine are captured, including two top commanders.
• December 3, a suicide bomber wounded three NATO soldiers and killed three civilians in Kandahar. The soldiers killed another five civilians in response to the attack.
• December 4, at least 7 Taliban are killed in clashes with NATO.
• December 5, four more militants are shot dead. Two NATO soldiers are wounded in Kandahar by a suicide bomber. A British attack on a Taliban-held valley results in the death of one soldier and wounding of another. The attack is repelled.
• December 6, Taliban shoot dead five civilians, while clashes in southern Afghanistan kill 5 of their members.
• December 11, Nato airstrikes kill nine insurgents while Afghan troops kill three more.