From May 1996, Osama bin Laden had been living in Afghanistan along with other members of al-Qaeda, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the Taliban.[1] Following the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa, the US military launched cruise missiles at these camps with limited effect on their overall operations. A follow-on plan, Operation Infinite Resolve, was planned but not implemented.[citation needed] The UN Security Council issued Resolutions 1267 and 1333 in 1999 and 2000, respectively, applying financial and military hardware sanctions to encourage the Taliban to turn over bin Laden to appropriate authorities for trial in the embassy bombings, as well as to close terrorist training camps.
After the September 11, 2001, attacks, investigators rapidly accumulated evidence implicating bin Laden. In a taped statement released in 2004, bin Laden publicly acknowledged his and al-Qaeda's direct involvement in the attacks. In an audiotape posted on a website that the US claims is "frequently used by al-Qaeda,"[citation needed] on May 21, 2006, bin Laden said that he had personally directed the 19 hijackers.
The war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as Operation Enduring Freedom, in response to the 9/11 attacks. This conflict marked the beginning of the US war on terror. The stated purpose of the invasion was to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy al-Qaeda, and remove the Taliban regime, which had provided them support and safe harbor. In December, the Taliban government fell and a transitional government was established.
In January 2006, NATO's focus in southern Afghanistan was to form Provincial Reconstruction Teams with the British leading in Helmand Province and the Netherlands and Canada leading similar deployments in Orūzgān Province and Kandahar Province, respectively. The Americans remained in control of Zabul Province. Local Taliban figures voiced opposition to the incoming force and pledged to resist it.
Battle: A coalition victory enabled the construction of two bases for the Afghan National Army in the valley near the village, which had been guerrilla control since 2006
Counterinsurgency: A Major US Marine offensive on the Taliban-held town killing more than 400 insurgents. Taliban forces withdrew from the town as a result of the assault and took up a position further south
Battle: A British-led operation involving the Afghan National Army that resulted in a coalition victory and a Taliban retreat into the nearby mountains
Battle: It began with the uprising of Taliban prisoners held at Qala-i-Jangi fortress and escalated into one of the bloodiest engagements of the war in Afghanistan
Counterinsurgency: Army infantrymen, Afghan National Army troops, and attached Marines again sparred with ACM forces in the region, inflicting significant losses against the enemy
Law enforcement: Involved the training of Afghan commandos by British special forces to seek out and destroy drug laboratories and to confiscate drug shipments
Counterinsurgency: The largest military offensive ever launched by NATO troops in Afghanistan to clear the city of Taliban militants and drug traffickers eliminating the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand. It involved US Marine units and Afghan troops along with the US Special Forces and other ISAF members[16]
Operation Mountain Blizzard
January 2004
12 March 2004
The south, southeast, and eastern portions of Afghanistan
Counterinsurgency: Killed 22 enemy combatants and discovered caches with 3,648 rockets, 3,202 mortar rounds, 2,944 rocket-propelled grenades, 3,000 rifle rounds, 2,232 mines and tens of thousands of rounds of small-arms ammunition[citation needed]
Counterinsurgency: A NATO-led operation as a follow-up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban rebels from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan
Operation Mountain Lion
11 April 2006
2006
Near the Pakistan border
Counterinsurgency: Searching along the border with Pakistan for al-Qaeda and former Taliban forces
US Army, Theatre Assets, ANSF, ANP, ANA were ambushed by 150+ Taliban for 8.5 hours along the route from Marawara District Center to Daridam Village area. 60-80 Taliban killed; three US soldiers wounded[citation needed]
To secure the area around the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah after an increase in insurgent attacks there, as well as to safeguard a planned voter registration program
Operation Sparviero
Codename for the Italian Army's contributions to the ISAF
The operation was planned and executed by the International Security Assistance Force forces and Afghan army whose mission was to clear insurgents from Seyyedabad to the south of Nad-e Ali in Helmand province, in parallel to similar operations by the U.S. Marine Corps in Northern Marjah. Enabled by the UK Joint Aviation Group - UK Apache Attack Helicopters from 664 Squadron AAC alongside UK Chinook and Merlin heavy lift aircraft and USMC CH-53s, Osprey V-22s, Cobra Attack Helicopters and numerous other international Fixed Wing air assets.
Contingency: The codename for all British combat operations in Afghanistan from the start of the war in 2001 until 2002
Operation Vigilance
15 April 2005
April 2005
Wardak Province
Counterinsurgency and Humanitarian: Targeted three individuals that coalition forces were trying to kill or capture, and included humanitarian aid drops in several villages
↑ Briscoe, Charles H.; etal. (2003). Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press. pp.141–143. ISBN9781944961763.
↑ Portaria nº399/2021,24 August (2021), Participação nacional na operação SOLACE — Afghan Staff Relocation — célula de coordenação local, Diário da República 2ª Série, 182, pp29-30, Lisboa: Ministério da Defesa Nacional
Further reading
Bishop, Patrick (2009). Ground Truth. UK: HarperPress. ISBN9780007296651.
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