Sayyd Alma Kalay airstrike | |
---|---|
Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) | |
Type | airstrike |
Location | |
Target | United States (friendly fire) |
Date | December 5, 2001 |
Executed by | United States |
Casualties | 3 Americans and 10 Afghans killed 40 injured |
The Sayyd Alma Kalayy airstrike was a major friendly fire incident via airstrike during the Invasion of Afghanistan. It happened on December 5, 2001 when a U.S. soldier responsible for calling in airstrikes accidentally misguided the Boeing B-52 bomber to strike a hill held by American Special Forces and dozens of their Afghan allies.
Two days earlier, U.S. Army Special Forces then-Captain Jason Amerine (leading Operational Detachment Alpha 574) and Afghan tribal leader Hamid Karzai had been fighting in the towns of Tarinkot [1] and Shawali Kowt [2] before advancing towards the village of Sayyd Alma Kalay. The Taliban withdrew from the town, and Amerine and Karzai entered the town. After both talked in the headquarters, Amerine left to discuss further airstrikes with another officer. While studying a map, a huge explosion hit the hill near them, apparently from one of their own bombs. Amerine was wounded, while many on the hill were killed or also wounded. A military investigation revealed that the U.S. Air Force Combat Controller from the headquarters in Sayyd Alma Kalay who arrived earlier in the day made a mistake: due to a technical error with his issued GPS receiver, he did not realize that he had mistakenly given his own coordinates for an airstrike to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress that ultimately dropped a 2,000 lb JDAM bomb on the hill, where several Americans and Afghans were located. [3]
Three of Amerine's friends died:
10 Afghans died as well. Forty Afghans and Americans, including Amerine, were wounded. The wounded were taken to Ramstein Air Base in Germany for treatment.
During the War in Afghanistan, according to the Costs of War Project the war killed 176,000 people in Afghanistan: 46,319 civilians, 69,095 military and police and at least 52,893 opposition fighters. However, the death toll is possibly higher due to unaccounted deaths by "disease, loss of access to food, water, infrastructure, and/or other indirect consequences of the war." According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, the conflict killed 212,191 people. The Cost of War project estimated in 2015 that the number who have died through indirect causes related to the war may be as high as 360,000 additional people based on a ratio of indirect to direct deaths in contemporary conflicts.
The following lists events that happened during 2002 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2004 in Afghanistan.
The 2007 Helmand province airstrikes were a set of airstrikes conducted by NATO on 22 June 2007 which resulted in death of at least 45 Afghan civilians. The death count in southern Helmand province was the highest since 2001, when US-led forces used heavy bombing in their campaign to drive the Taliban from power.
The Friendly fire incident at Sangin was a military incident that took place on March 29, 2006. Afghan insurgents mounted an assault on a forward operating base in Helmand province near the town of Lashkar Gah, which had been opened only six weeks earlier and was staffed by 100 ANA soldiers and their American trainers, using small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars.
The Battle of Tarinkot took place in 2001 during the War in Afghanistan. On November 14, 2001, ODA 574 and Hamid Karzai inserted into Uruzgan Province via 4 MH-60K helicopters with a small force of guerrillas. In response to the approach of Karzai's force, the inhabitants of the town of Tarinkot revolted and expelled their Taliban administrators. Karzai traveled to Tarinkot to meet with the town elders. While he was there, the Taliban marshaled a force of 500 men to retake Tarinkot. Karzai's small force plus the American contingent, which consisted of US Army Special Forces from ODA 574 and their US Air Force Combat Controller, Tech Sergeant Alex Yoshimoto, were deployed in front of the town to block their advance. Relying heavily on close air support directed by Yoshimoto, the American/Afghan force managed to halt the Taliban advance and drive them away from the town.
The Fall of Kandahar took place in 2001 during the War in Afghanistan. After the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul and Herat, Kandahar was the last major city under Taliban control. Kandahar was where the Taliban movement had originated and where its power base was located, so it was assumed that capturing Kandahar would be difficult. The city fell after several weeks of fighting to a force of local militia under Pashtun military commanders and their American advisers. The fall of Kandahar signaled the end of organized Taliban control of Afghanistan.
See also: 2007 in Afghanistan, other events of 2008, 2009 in Afghanistan and Timeline of the War in Afghanistan (2001-14).
The Wech Baghtu wedding party airstrike refers to the killing of about 37 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, and injuring about 27 others by a United States military airstrike on November the 3rd 2008. The group was celebrating a wedding at a housing complex in the village of Wech Baghtu, a Taliban stronghold in the Shah Wali Kot District of Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
Hyderabad airstrike refers to the killing of many Afghan civilians including women and children in the village of Hyderabad, Gerishk District, Helmand province, Afghanistan on June 28, 2007 by the United States Army.
Events from the year 2011 in Afghanistan.
The Battle of Shawali Kowt took place near the Arghandab River in Afghanistan during the Invasion of Afghanistan. On December 2, 2001, after a pitched street-by-street battle, the Green Berets and Afghan Freedom Fighters captured the town of Shawali Kowt, but could not gain control over a bridge over the Arghandab River, a gateway to the Taliban spiritual center of Kandahar. That night, the Taliban forces launched a major counterattack, triggering a retreat by the Afghans. Over the next eight hours, the American forces defended against the retreat. U.S. Air Force Sergeant Alex Yoshimoto, the combat controller, orchestrated numerous air strikes from a variety of fighters and bombers, thwarting the Taliban charge and forcing the enemy to retreat.
The Battle of Sayyd Alma Kalay that took place near the Arghandab River in Afghanistan during the United States invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban were defeated by the United States and its Afghan allies, setting the stage for the Fall of Kandahar.
Jason Amerine is a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Special Forces. He served in the Invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in which he aided tribal leader Hamid Karzai in fighting a guerrilla war against the Taliban. For bravery in the invasion, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. He was also a "Real Hero" in the America's Army video game.
Operational Detachment Alpha 574 is a part of the United States Army's Third Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group. At the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom it operated in Afghanistan to help defeat the Taliban and create conditions for the establishment of a democratic government in Afghanistan. Jason Amerine was noted for leading the group in several battles of the Invasion of Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened in 2013 in Afghanistan.
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Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
The 2014 Gaza Valley airstrike was a friendly fire incident that took place in Zabul Province, Afghanistan on 9 June 2014 when five U.S. troops and one Afghan interpreter were killed when a B-1B Lancer bomber inadvertently dropped laser-guided bombs on their position during a firefight with Taliban forces. U.S. and Afghan government forces were in the Gaza Valley area of Arghandab District conducting security operations in advance of the 2014 Afghan presidential elections when they came under attack from Taliban militants, sparking a firefight. An American air controller on the ground requested close air support from a B-1B bomber flying in the vicinity to support a team of soldiers maneuvering on a ridge. The U.S. aircraft dropped two guided bombs on the position, killing the team of Americans and an Afghan soldier.