Operation Anaconda or the Battle of Shah-i-Kot was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took place in the Shah-i-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat. This operation was the first large-scale battle in the post-2001 War in Afghanistan since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. This was the first operation in the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. forces participating in direct combat activities.
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957 as a company, it was modelled on the British SAS with which it shares the motto, "Who Dares Wins". Expanded to a regiment in August 1964, it is based at Campbell Barracks, in Swanbourne, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, and is a direct command unit of the Special Operations Command.
The Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been known as Operation Slipper (2001–2014) and Operation Highroad (2015–2021).
Sangin is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 20,000 people. It is located on 32°4′24″N64°50′2″E in the valley of the Helmand River at 888 m (2,913 ft) altitude, 95 km (59 mi) to the north-east of Lashkargah. Sangin is notorious as one of the central locations of the opium trade in the south of the country, and is also a town that has traditionally supported the Taliban. It was described by British newspaper The Guardian as "the deadliest area in Afghanistan" in 2010. Sangin also houses the main bazaar for Sangin District. Route 611 passes through Sangin.
The Battle of Takur Ghar was a short but intense military engagement between United States special operations forces and al-Qaeda insurgents fought in March 2002, atop Takur Ghar mountain in Afghanistan. For the U.S. side, the battle proved the deadliest entanglement of Operation Anaconda, an effort early in the War in Afghanistan to rout al-Qaeda forces from the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains. The battle saw three helicopter landings by the U.S. on the mountain top, each met with direct assault from al-Qaeda forces. Although Takur Ghar was eventually taken, seven U.S. service members were killed and 12 others were wounded. The battle is also known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge, after the first casualty of the battle, Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts.
The Battle of Firebase Anaconda was a military engagement that took place on August 8, 2007, during the War in Afghanistan. A group of roughly 75 Afghan militants mounted a rare frontal assault on a United States' Firebase Anaconda, but was repulsed with approximately 20 fatalities. No Americans were killed.
Operation Jacana is the codename for a series of operations carried out by coalition forces in Afghanistan. The operations were carried out most notably by 45 Commando Royal Marines. U.S. forces, Australian SAS and Norwegian FSK also participated. The operation was a follow-up operation of Operation Anaconda and was meant to kill or capture the remaining Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels. The operation has been called a "mopping up" operation after Operation Anaconda. The operation is named after an African bird type, jacana, described in one manual as "shy, retiring, easily overlooked".
Andy McNab's Tour of Duty is a British documentary television series about the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.
French International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were ambushed by Afghan Taliban insurgents, with heavy casualties, in the Uzbin Valley outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday in the Surobi District of Kabul province in eastern Afghanistan on 18 August 2008.
The 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry battalion. Originally formed during World War II, the battalion took part in the Aleutian and Italian campaigns before being deactivated after the war. Later, however, it was reactivated and in recent times has served in the Sinai Peninsula and in Afghanistan.
Mark Gregor Strang Donaldson, is an Australian soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, the highest award in the Australian honours system. Then Trooper Donaldson was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) when he exposed himself to enemy fire to protect injured troops and then rescued an interpreter under heavy enemy fire in the Battle of Khaz Oruzgan during Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan. He was presented with the decoration by the Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, in a ceremony in Canberra on 16 January 2009. On 25 January 2010, Donaldson was named the 2010 Young Australian of the Year. He was promoted to corporal in June 2010.
The Battle of Shewan was a military engagement between Coalition forces and Taliban insurgents that took place on August 8, 2008, near the village of Shewan in the Bala Buluk district, Farah Province, Afghanistan.
The Battle of Derapet was fought near the village of Derapet in the Tangi Valley in Deh Rahwod, Orūzgān Province, southern Afghanistan, between a combined Australian Army and Afghan National Army patrol and Taliban forces on 24 August 2010. Australian forces had only recently taken over responsibility for Deh Rahwod as part of a major expansion of their area of operations which took place following the Dutch withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. The combined coalition patrol included 20 Australians and 20 Afghan National Army troops. The small Australian force from 1st Mentoring Task Force (MTF-1) based in Tarin Kowt included two sections of dismounted infantry and two ASLAV-25 guncars and was tasked with a fighting patrol to find and inflict damage on insurgent forces known to be in the area.
The First and Second Battles of Kakarak were fought near the village of Kakarak in the West Dorafshan district of Orūzgān Province, in southern Afghanistan. The fighting took place between Australian forces from the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1) and Taliban fighters, with the area considered to be one of the last Taliban outposts in the area. During the first action on the morning of 16 March a six-man Australian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) operating with Afghan National Army (ANA) troops was contacted by a numerically superior Taliban force near the village. In the ensuing battle one Australian was killed before close air support from Dutch AH-64D Apache helicopter gunships and US aircraft allowed them to withdraw after inflicting heavy casualties on the Taliban insurgents.
The Battle of Ganjgal took place during the War in Afghanistan between American and Afghan forces and the Taliban in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on September 8, 2009. Complaints that the coalition casualties were avoidable and caused by a failure of the chain of command to provide fire support for the team triggered an official investigation and a series of reprimands to several US military officers. Army Captain William D. Swenson and Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle. Meyer is the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, and Swenson is the fifth living soldier and second officer to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Two other Marines at the battle, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez and Capt. Ademola Fabayo, received the Navy Cross.
The Battle of Doan was a ground battle in the War in Afghanistan fought in Doan Village on 9 September 2011 between forces of the Taliban and elements of the Afghan National Army accompanied by units of the Australian Army deployed under Operation Slipper. The Taliban fired harassing fire at an Australian and Afghan patrol near the village of Doan, in Oruzgan Province, an I.E.D causing the loss of one Australian vehicle, with one soldier wounded. One person was arrested, while casualties on the Taliban side are unknown.
The U.S. Army Special Forces traces its roots as the Army's premier proponent of unconventional warfare from purpose-formed special operations units like the Alamo Scouts, Philippine guerrillas, First Special Service Force, and the Operational Groups (OGs) of the Office of Strategic Services. Although the OSS was not an Army organization, many Army personnel were assigned to the OSS and later used their experiences to influence the forming of Special Forces.
The 2006 Dutch-Australian offensive was a military operation carried out in Afghanistan by a combined force of Dutch and Australian troops that commenced in late April 2006 and concluded on 16 July 2006. The force entered the Taliban-controlled Chora District and Balochistan region, both of which are located north-east of the provincial capital, Tarin Kowt. The offensive's goal was to protect Tarin Kowt, the site of a soon-to-be base, from a potential Taliban attack.
The Battle of Barawala Kalay Valley took place 29 March 2011 – 8 April 2011 in Barawala Kalay Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. The battle was part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). The goal was to close down the Taliban supply route through the Barawala Kalay Valley and to remove the forces of Taliban warlord Qari Ziaur Rahman from the Barwala Kalay Valley.
United States 
Australia 
Afghanistan 
Netherlands (indirect role)
Taliban 
