The Korangal Valley (or Korengal Valley, or Garangal Valley) in Afghanistan is located south of the Pech River in the Pech District of Kunar Province in northeastern Afghanistan. To the east is Asadabad, capital of Kunar Province, to the west is the Chapa Dara District, and to the south is the Chawkay District (Diwagal Valley). In the south east there is Narang wa Badil District (Badeil Valley), and in the south west Nurgal District (Mazar Valley), which includes Shumast Aret.
Firebase Phoenix (later called Firebase Vimoto) was established in the village of Babeyal to act as a security buffer between the villagers and active anti-coalition militia (ACM) fighters in the valley. Firebase Phoenix was established in the Spring of 2007 by 2nd Platoon, A Company, 1-32d Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, while fighting waged in the villages and mountains. Medical aid was brought to the surrounding villages.
The Korengal Outpost was established at an abandoned lumber yard in April 2006 by Task Force Lava of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines and subsequently transferred to Alpha Company, 1-32 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division. During 2007 and 2008, the valley was the scene of fierce fighting between ISAF's Eastern Command consisting mostly of US forces; and ACM, notably the Taliban.
After years of sustained fighting and casualties with little evident progress, the US military closed Korangal Outpost on April 14, 2010. Forty-two American service men died fighting in the Korangal and hundreds were wounded, primarily between the years of 2006 and 2009. Many Afghan soldiers died there as well. The valley has been dubbed "The Valley of Death" by American forces.[1]
Professional British photographer Tim Hetherington won the World Press Photo award for 2007 with a shot he took while reporting on the war in Korangal valley for Vanity Fair magazine in January 2008.[2] Sebastian Junger's (2010) book War, and the subsequent film Restrepo document his experiences while embedded with a US Army company manning the small Observation Post Restrepo, named for a fallen comrade, in the Korangal valley.
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Garangal, Korengal, Kurangal, Korangal کړنګل کوړنګل کوړينګل
The valley includes more than a dozen villages:
| Ali Abad, Kunar (Elabat) | |
| Ashat, Kunar | |
| Bebiyal, Kunar | |
| Darbat, Kunar | |
| Donga, Kunar | |
| Landigal, Kunar | |
| Landigal, Kunar | |
| Hendarok lower, Kunar | |
| Hendarok upper, Kunar | |
| Kandalik, Kunar | |
| Chechal, Kunar | |
| Dakalbat, Kunar | |
| Seipale, Kunar | |
| Yakha China, Kunar | |
| Kandalam, Kunar | |
| Old Korangal, Kunar |
Including a few villages of Qalai-Gal-Valley
The valley has six major tribes:
The Korangalies are Pashai. They can speak Pashto because the Safi Pastun tribes are all around them and they have some integration with Safi Pashtun tribes.
The valley has rocky mountains with limited agricultural land.
The Korangal valley is lushly forested with large trees. Much of the valley's income is due to legal and illegal forestry and timber sales. In 2006, Coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan reclaimed the Lumber Yard and established the first government presence in the valley since before the Soviet Invasion. With the renewed government presence, legal timber trade has increased through the valley.