Operation Taohid

Operation Taohid I, II, III

Part of: War in Afghanistan

date	March – October 2010
place	Afghanistan , Baghlan Province
output	Displacement of the Taliban from the Baghlan-e-Jadid and Dahana-i-Gori districts
consequences	The Afghan state regained control of the occupied districts

Parties to the conflict
Afghanistan NATO ISAF Germany United States Sweden Finland Belgium Hungary North Macedonia Croatia	Taliban and Hesb-Islami Ghulbbudin
Commander
Major General Hans-Werner Fritz Former Commanders: Major General Haji Murad Ali Brigadier General Frank Leidenberger	unknown
Troop strength
2100 Afghan soldiers 500 ISAF soldiers	about 300 men unknown number of Pashtun settlers
losses
5 German soldiers killed, 2 American soldiers killed, 8 Afghan soldiers killed	At least 60 Taliban fighters killed, 20 Taliban captured

Operation Taohid ( Dari for “unity”) was an Afghan-led offensive operation by troops of the Afghan security forces (army, police, secret service) in close cooperation with ISAF in Baghlan province to expel the Taliban and insurgents in the Baghlan-e-Jadid district . After the fighting that lasted around five weeks, the district is now under the control of the Afghan army and police.

Operation Taohid is the largest and longest joint military operation by ISAF and the Afghan security forces in northern Afghanistan since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.

background

Geographical and strategic location of the Kunduz-Baghlan valley

Two of Afghanistan's main trade routes, running from north to south and west to south-east, connect in the river valley-shaped province of Baghlan before running through the Salang Pass as part of the “ring road” that spans the whole of Afghanistan . One of these two roads runs from the Afghan-Uzbek border town of Shir Khan Bandah in a southerly direction along the Kunduz River through the city of Kunduz and on through the Baghlan Province to Pol-e Chomri . This infrastructural significance as an important supply corridor ensured that Baghlan was constantly contested during the Afghan-Soviet war.

Deterioration of the security situation

The security situation in the province of Baghlan had deteriorated significantly in recent years due to various causes: Since the overthrow of the Taliban by an international community in 2001/2002, Baghlan has mainly been under the influence of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HiG) - an old one Mudshahideen faction that does not affiliate with the Afghan government or the Taliban. The repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and the Afghan-Pakistani border area, which has been increasing since 2005, has led to a steady increase in the Pashtun population in Baghlan. This ethnic group is traditionally close to and supports the Taliban. The settlement of many Pashtuns in the otherwise largely Uzbek-Tajik dominated northern Afghanistan therefore made it easier for the slowly growing Taliban to infiltrate their areas from 2007 onwards and to gradually expand their own power base with the help of the population. There were repeated battles between the HiG and the Taliban to secure their respective power bases in Baghlan. In addition, reprisals by the Afghan police, most of whom are stationed on the two main roads in the province of Baghlan, caused a loss of confidence in the Afghan government.

Starting position

Attacks on Afghan security forces

In 2009 and 2010 attacks by the Taliban and HiG against the local police, but also against units of the Afghan army, ISAF and civil organizations in Baghlan province, increased significantly. The Afghan police in particular have increasingly been the target of attacks on their police stations.

Fight between Taliban and HiG

In March 2010, the Taliban returning from their winter camp in Pakistan began a major offensive in the Baghlan-e-Jadid district to conquer the HiG territory, to drive it out and thus to control large parts of the Kunduz-Baghlan Valley. In the roughly one-week fighting, the Taliban succeeded in conquering large parts of the HiG's sphere of influence. In total, an estimated 60 people died in these skirmishes. In addition, up to 120 members of the HiG joined the Afghan government towards the end of the fighting.

Operation Taohid I

Following the takeover of power by the Taliban in the Baghlan-e-Jadid district, the Afghan security forces and ISAF decided to carry out an operation to displace the insurgents. The intention was to gain control of important bridges over the Kunduz River in the Baghlan Valley and to set up outposts there in order to obtain permanent access to the region and to ensure freedom of movement on the main traffic routes. After a reconnaissance operation called Oqab-e-Bedar, fighting ensued from March 27th to March 31st. This led to the conquest of several bridges near the town of "New Baghlan" by the Afghan army and ISAF, as well as to the liberation of several mountain villages west of the town of Baghlan from the Taliban. Subsequently, the construction of so-called bridgeheads on the captured bridges was started in order to be able to hold the area in the long term.

Operation Taohid II

A position of the Afghan National Army in the BAGHLAN-i-JAHDID district during the operation

Following the first part of the overall operation, the Afghan armed forces, with the support of ISAF, began expanding the conquered area on April 14th.

When units of the Afghan army and their German trainers (OMLT) crossed a bridge ("Dutch Bridge") near Kuk Chenar, an attack on an ISAF armored vehicle occurred on April 15, in which three German soldiers and several died some were seriously wounded.

Kuk Chenar Bridge, captured by the Allies during the operation.

On the same day, a rescue team of the Bundeswehr, which was on the way to the stopping point, was ambushed north of the city of Pol-i-Khumri , during which the column's ambulance was hit by an anti-tank missile. The ambulance doctor in the vehicle was killed. According to media reports, more than 20 Taliban were killed in clashes between the Taliban and the coalition up to April 18. Due to the increasing military pressure on the insurgents, eight Taliban fighters surrendered on April 24 at the joint base of operations of the Allies in Puza-i-Eshan in the presence of the two commanding generals Haji Murad Ali and Frank Leidenberger.

Taliban fighters surrender during the operation

The fighting between the conflicting parties intensified until mid-May and resulted in the death or capture of a total of 13 Taliban. According to reports by the Bundeswehr, Mi-35 attack helicopters were also used on the Afghan side .

Operation in Dahana-i-Gori

In order to prevent the Taliban, who were evading north to Kunduz and south to Pol-i-Khumri, from returning to Baghlan or from being reorganized in the neighboring districts, Afghan security forces and ISAF carried out an operation in the district immediately following Taohid II Dahana-i-Gori through. The Taliban who fled there had already begun occupying villages and attacking police units. Nine Taliban were killed and eleven wounded in the week-long “cleanup” operation.

Operation Taohid III

Between June 28 and August 11, 2010, the Afghan Army and ISAF units carried out the final part of Operation Taohid in Baghlan. The goals of the military activities were the expansion of the area of ​​influence of the Afghan government organizations, the further displacement of the insurgents from the metropolitan areas and the establishment of a permanent, area-wide presence of ISAF and ANA.

It has succeeded in minimizing the attacks by militant insurgents on the civilian population and instead increasing measures in civil development aid.

In the long-running operation, there were sometimes violent skirmishes between mixed units of Afghans, Germans and Americans.

However, ISAF and the Afghan security forces have not yet obtained final control, particularly along the two main supply routes. A Hungarian patrol was caught in a complex ambush on the main road from Pol-i-Khumri to Mazar-e-Sharif, in which three Hungarian soldiers were wounded and an S1 sergeant from the Hungarian PRT was immediately killed. A female soldier died on September 7, 2010 in a hospital in Budapest as a result of severe head injuries.

Between September and October 2010, units of the Afghan Army, the German Quick Reaction Force and a unit of the American Special Forces advanced into an area between the two main roads ("Highway Triangle") north of Pol-i-Khumri, around the Taliban operating there expel. There were heavy fighting over days with the use of armored personnel carriers, close air support and mortars. The area around Shahabuddin and Aka-Khel that the ISAF fought free was initially held and secured in a combat outpost with the help of local militias.

After the Taliban overran this militia outpost after about four weeks, the Quick Reaction Force managed to retake it in a three-day battle. Since then, ISAF has been permanently stationed in Shahbuddin with its own troops.

On October 7, 2010, a German medical soldier was killed at this Combat Outpost near the village of Aka-Khel when a suicide bomber blew himself up while talking to him. This attack resulted in heavy fighting between ISAF and the Taliban that lasted for hours.

Targeted combat against the opposing leadership

During Operation Taohid, the coalition targeted and eliminated the Taliban leadership. On May 14, the self-proclaimed shadow governor of Baghlan Province, Maulawi Ruhollah, and four subordinates were killed by ISAF special forces. Coalition units captured a Taliban commander and his companion in a night operation in Baghlan province on May 20.

On the night of May 28, coalition forces killed the Taliban's shadow governor in Baghlan and several of his companions in a targeted air strike.

In an operation that followed immediately on May 30, the shadow governor's successor was captured and several of his companions were killed. During this operation, a damaged helicopter belonging to the coalition forces had to make an emergency landing and was destroyed on site. This enabled Allied units to capture or kill the newly designated Taliban shadow governors of Baghlan three times within a week. On June 22, ISAF units captured the Taliban's chief financial officer in Baghlan in his hiding place in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan.

Results

The operation led to the displacement of the Taliban from the Baghlan-e-Jadid district and to the sustained expansion of the influence of the Allies in the strategically important province of Baghlan. By occupying three bridgeheads on the Kunduz River, the Afghan-international coalition succeeded in liberating the Afghan population from the oppression of the HiG and Taliban and opening the main trade route from Uzbekistan to Kabul to free traffic.

Alleged rejection of Operation Taohid II by ISAF

On April 18, the Bild-Zeitung published an article addressing alleged discrepancies between the ISAF Regional Command North under the leadership of Brigadier General Leidenberger and the ISAF Operations Center in Kabul in anticipation of the start of Operation Taohid II. As a result, General Leidenberger advised his superiors not to involve his troops in the forthcoming operation. Due to the unavailability of troops and the poor quality of the Afghan partner units, the latter requested that the operation be suspended. A related research by ZDF Middle East expert Hans-Ulrich Gack , on the other hand, revealed that the North Regional Command had not made any such requests, but informed the operations center in Kabul that, in the absence of sufficient German units, they would also refer to partner units from the USA, Belgium and Sweden would come back to support the operation.

See also

• War in Afghanistan
• ISAF operations management in the Kunduz area since 2009

literature

• Paul Hicks: Physically and mentally challenged, in: "aktuell - newspaper for the Bundeswehr", June 2010.
• Stanley McChrystal : Commander's Initial Assessment, Kabul . 2009.
• Sada-e-Azadi: Fighting for Security in Baghlan Province, June 2010 edition.
• Timo Noetzel : Germany . In: Thomas Rid / Thomas Keaney (eds.): Understanding Counterinsurgency. Doctrine, Operations, and Challenges . Routledge, London / New York 2010, pp. 46-58, v. a. Pp. 53-55 .

Web links

• Detailed map of the Kunduz-Baghlan Valley
• Pictures of the operation
• Official announcement from the Bundeswehr at the end of the operation
• Official announcement from the Swedish Armed Forces about the operation
• Article from soldatenglück.de about the operation
• Video about the deployment of German soldiers in the Combat Outpost near Shahabuddin

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Antonio Giustozzi, Christoph Reuter: The Northern Front. The Afghan insurgency spreading beyond the Pashtuns (PDF; 182 kB)
2. ↑ xinhuanet.com: Militants kill 7 police in N Afghanistan
3. ↑ xinhuanet.com: Over 10 suspected Taliban militants killed, wounded in N. Afghanistan
4. ↑ xinhuanet.com: NATO forces attacked in N Afghan province
5. ↑ xinhuanet.com: Taliban storm police checkpoint, kill 1, wounds 1 in N Afghanistan
6. ^ Uni Kassel: Chronicle Afghanistan, March 2010
7. ↑ foxnews.com: 50 Killed as Taliban, Rival Militants Battle in Afghanistan ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ xinhuanet.com: Infighting between militant groups claims over a dozen lives in N. Afghanistan: official
9. ↑ ^{a b} xinhuanet: 120 militants of Taliban rival faction join gov't in N. Afghanistan
10. ↑ ^{a b} soldatenglueck.de: The last four soldiers died in a militarily controversial operation?
11. ^ Matthias Gebauer: Bundeswehr mission in the Hindu Kush: Four German soldiers killed in Afghanistan. In: Spiegel Online . April 15, 2010, accessed June 10, 2018 . 
12. ↑ Afghanistan mission - Bundeswehr corrects information about attacks
13. ↑ http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/asien-und-ozeanien/Soldaten-kamen-durch-ferngezuendet-Sprengfalle-um/story/27397451
14. ↑ bundesregierung.de: Government press conference on April 16 ( memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
15. ↑ xinhuanet.com: 20 Taliban militants killed in N. Afghanistan
16. ↑ soldatenglueck.de: Afghanistan: Germany talks to Taliban-outs
17. ↑ xinhuanet.com: Afghan, NATO forces kill 21 Taliban militants, detain 27
18. ^ Bundeswehr.de: Operation in northern Afghanistan completed
19. ↑ findarticles.com: 2nd LD Writethru: 5 kidnapped UN employees released in northern
20. ↑ afghan isaf operations in southern northern afghanistan ( memento of the original dated November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
21. ^ Bundeswehr.de Afghanistan: Patrol attacked
22. ↑ http://www.dunatv.hu/itthon/meghalt_magyar_katona_afganisztan.html
23. ^ Female Hungarian soldier killed in attack in Afghanistan
24. ↑ Thorsten Jungholt: Fighting and camping in the dirt. In: welt.de . October 17, 2010, accessed October 7, 2018 . 
25. ↑ Ulrike Demmer: Battle for Shahabuddin
26. ↑ Marco Seliger: Bundeswehr: In permanent combat use - D, FAZ, October 18, 2010
27. ↑ hindustantimes.com: 45 Taliban, 2 soldiers, 5 guards killed in Afghanistan
28. ↑ ISAF: May 20: Afghan-ISAF Operations in Western, Southern Afghanistan ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
29. ↑ ISAF: May 29: Afghan-ISAF Operations in Eastern, Southern, Northern Afghanistan ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2010 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. 
30. ↑ globaldefence.net: Afghanistan - Forces Seize Taliban 'Shadow Governor' in Afghanistan  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
31. ↑ ISAF: Transcript: Operational Update, Opening Statement for ISAF News Conference ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
32. ↑ ISAF: International Security Assistance Force: Operational Update ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
33. ↑ ISAF: June 22: Afghan-ISAF Operations in Southern, Northern Afghanistan ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
34. ↑ Bundeswehr in Afghanistan: Deadly order . BamS reveals how a German general tried unsuccessfully to prevent Operation Taohid, which ended up killing 4 German soldiers and wounding 5.
35. ↑ Video Journal on the report funeral service for German soldiers (April 18, 2010)  in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on February 5, 2014. (offline)