Operation Achilles
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Soldiers of the 508th Paratrooper Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division in the Ghorak Valley during "Operation Achilles"
| date | March 6 to May 30, 2007 |
|---|---|
| place | Afghanistan , Helmand |
| output | Allied tactical victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Major General Ton van Loon |
Mullah Abdul Rahim |
| Troop strength | |
| 4500 ISAF soldiers 1000 Afghan soldiers |
about 10,000 men |
| losses | |
|
35 ISAF soldiers (July 11th) |
Unknown number of Taliban fighters |
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Operation Achilles is the code name for a NATO spring offensive in the war in Afghanistan . It began on March 6, 2007 and, until Operation Mushtarak began on February 12, 2010, was the largest NATO operation since taking command in southern Afghanistan .
prehistory
The Afghan province of Helmand on the border with Pakistan is considered a stronghold of the Taliban and drug cultivation . In 2006, ISAF and US troops carried out an offensive in the region with 11,000 soldiers involved ( Operation Mountain Thrust ). Despite the fierce fighting, they had not been able to bring the province under control. During the following winter months there was little fighting as both sides prepared for a “spring offensive” . In mid-February 2007, Abdul Rahim , one of the leaders of the insurgents, announced that they had gathered up to 10,000 fighters and at least 2,000 suicide bombers in Helmand. The governor of the province Asadullah Wafa confirmed such information, since 700 foreign fighters had crossed the border from Wasiristan in Pakistan under the orders of the Pakistani Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud alone in the past few weeks .
Indeed, the Taliban's pressure on the ISAF troops increased since the beginning of 2007. On February 1, they captured the Musa Kala district , in which the NATO commanders had previously handed over the executive power to the local tribal elders. In the following days there were already fierce fighting near the city of Sangin ( 32 ° 4 ′ N , 64 ° 50 ′ E ) and on the road to Kajaki ( 32 ° 16 ′ N , 65 ° 3 ′ E ), in which four NATO soldiers were killed. The Afghan government then pushed for the start of the offensive, which had also been announced, by NATO troops.
Operational concept
The strategic conception of the operation was to attack and destroy the Taliban positions in Helmand province. The won territory was then to be secured militarily and the Afghan central government was to be enabled to tackle urgent reconstruction projects. The Kajakai dam near the town of Kajaki played a central role . This currently supplies around 300,000 Afghans in the province with electricity, but after repairs it was hoped to be able to supply between 1.2 and 2 million Afghans. In addition to stimulating the economy through electricity, the supply of water to the civilian population should also be improved. A success of this project would symbolize an essential success of the Afghan government and the ISAF or NATO. Militarily, the initiative should be maintained against the Taliban. Official ISAF spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said:
- "What you are going to see in the coming weeks is the enemy reacting to the strategic initiative of the government of Afghanistan and the (NATO) forces it's partnered with. [...] It is us moving into (Taliban) areas, not the other way around. "
In their approach, the international troops had to try very hard to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, as shortly before the offensive began, several civilians were killed in two incidents in NATO air strikes . This had led to larger demonstrations against the foreign troop presence. With this in mind, Major General Ton van Loon let the citizens of Helmand Province know:
- “We know that Taleban extremists have regularly sought refuge in their communities and have used honest citizens and children as human shields to protect themselves. I assure you we recognize how devious the enemy is and as Operation Achilles brings more troops in your region, let there be no doubt that we are only going after the extremists. "
Course of the operation
Under the command of the Dutch major general and commander of the "ISAF Regional Command-South" Ton van Loon, NATO provided around 4500 soldiers (1500 soldiers from the 82nd US Airborne Division and the British , Canadian and Dutch armed forces ), who together with another 1000 Afghan army man and police were supposed to lead the attack on Taliban positions. The operations were initiated by the dropping of 30,000 leaflets over the combat area by a C-130 Hercules . On these the Taliban fighters were asked not to get involved in combat with the international troops.
At 5:00 a.m. local time on March 6, 2007, the first units of NATO troops moved into their starting positions in the area between Kajaki and Sangin. On the first day of the operation, a soldier from the 42nd Commando of the British Royal Marines was killed in a gun battle near Kajaki. On March 8, another British soldier died from a wound near Sangin. In contrast, at least five alleged Taliban fighters were killed in the Kajaki district on March 6 alone.
On the night of March 7-8, 2007, NATO troops made a further advance in the southern part of Helmand to bind the Taliban associations there and divert them from northern Helmand. The 45 command of the Royal marines handle together with units of the Afghan army positions and magazines Taliban south of the city Garmsir ( 31 ° 7 ' N , 64 ° 12' O ); from which it was assumed that it was a local headquarters . About 200 soldiers took part in the battle with the support of Afghan artillery. In the course of the battle, a Taliban armored vehicle was destroyed while some fighters withdrew to a mosque . The international troops then stopped their fire. Only when they came under fire again did they return fire. Other Taliban fighters are said to have holed up in civilian houses. The NATO troops stopped firing to avoid civilian losses. Colonel Tom Collins, ISAF spokesman, commented:
- "It is important to remember that Taliban extremists often make allegations of civilian casualties in their continuing efforts to discredit the international military forces."
NATO assessed this partial operation as a great success because the positions were destroyed and the Taliban's freedom of movement restricted. In addition, there were no losses on the part of the coalition forces in this battle. The high Taliban leader and regional commander Mullah Jamaluddin and a large number of fighters were killed in this battle. In order to shield the operations of ISAF associations were units of the 1st Battalion of the 508th US paratroopers - Regiment and the Royal Canadian Regiment in the border area between Kandahar and Helmand provinces in position. On the morning of March 10, 2007, the US battalion, Afghan troops and a Dutch reconnaissance unit attacked a Taliban position system on a ridge near Gorak (northwest Kandahar). In the presence of Major General Ton van Loon, heavy air raids were carried out, which destroyed the positions.
By May 3, the pioneers of NATO troops had set up three posts for the Afghan army for 100 men each. The UK Ministry of Defense also reported that the Taliban had been evicted from the populated areas.
On May 12, one of the Taliban's key military leaders, Mullah Dadullah, was killed by NATO troops.
On May 30, a US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down near the dam by Taliban troops. All seven people on board were killed. While CNN claimed that a preliminary report indicated that the helicopter was shot down with a Rocket Propelled Grenade , an internal report by the US military that came to light in 2010 as part of the Afghan War Diary suspects the downing is due to a MANPAD .
reviews
The UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs , considers the operation to be groundbreaking in order to finally oust the Taliban and bring about an economic upswing in the country.
In an interview on March 6, 2007, the German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung relativized the importance of Operation Achilles . It is only a localized part of Operation Adler, which has been ongoing for a long time, and it is not the beginning of a spring offensive .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Spiegel.de: NATO starts spring offensive in Afghanistan (March 6, 2007)
- ↑ a b New York Times: NATO Mounts Largest Attack on Taliban in the South (March 7, 2007)
- ↑ NATO homepage: ISAF and Afghan Forces launch major operation in the South (March 6, 2007) ( Memento of the original of March 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ NATO homepage: ISAF opening statement on Operation Achilles (March 6, 2007) ( Memento of the original of March 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b New York Times: NATO Launches Offensive Against Taliban (March 6, 2007)
- ↑ GlobalSecurity: NATO Launches Major New Offensive in Southern Afghanistan (March 6, 2007)
- ↑ GlobalSecurity: Operation Achilles: Leaflet airdrop delivers message to Taliban (March 6, 2007)
- ↑ British Department of Defense: Marine Benjamin Reddy killed in Afghanistan (March 7, 2007)
- ↑ British Department of Defense: WO2 Michael Smith killed in Afghanistan (March 9, 2007)
- ↑ Al Jazeera.net: Taliban leader caught in a burqa (March 7, 2007)
- ↑ NATO homepage: ISAF targets enemy command and control centers (March 8, 2007) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b NATO homepage: Operation Achilles making progress (March 8, 2007) ( Memento of the original of March 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ NATO homepage: ISAF confirms death of extremist Mullah Jamaluddin (March 13, 2007) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ NATO homepage: Operation Achilles destroys Taliban position (March 11, 2007) ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/OnTheHeelsOfAchillesvideo.htm
- ^ The Guardian : Taliban's top military commander killed during fighting , May 14, 2007
- ↑ CNN : 7 killed as US copter crashes in Afghanistan
- ↑ Afghan War Diary: N1 301634Z TF Corsair Downed Helo IVO KJI 5x US KIA 1x UK KIA 1xCAN KIA ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Koenigs: We left the field to the Taliban (tagesschau.de archive) ARD: Tom Koenigs: We left the field to the Taliban
- ↑ Spiegel.de: "There is no spring offensive by NATO" (March 6, 2007)
