Operation Champion Sword | |||||||
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Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | |||||||
A soldier on patrol in Afghanistan as part of the operation | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Afghanistan | Taliban al-Qaeda Other allied groups | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Stanley A. McChrystal Robert L. Caslen Jr. | Mohammed Omar Osama bin Laden |
Operation Champion Sword was a joint military operation by the forces of the United States and Afghanistan as part of an International Security Assistance Force against the Taliban and allies. Lasting for a week, the operation resulted in the capture of 14 militants and homemade bomb-makers, as well as improving the general security of Khost Province. [1] The operation targeted safe havens and terrorist hideouts in the Sabari and Tere Zayi districts of Khost province. [2]
A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in early 2002, and were used in Iraq as well. While the concepts are similar, PRTs in Afghanistan and Iraq had separate compositions and missions. Their common purpose, however, was to empower local governments to govern their constituents more effectively.
Khōst is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram in Pakistan. Khost is the home of Shaikh Zayed University. Khost Airport serves the city as well as the larger region surrounding the city.
Khost is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Khost consists of thirteen districts and the city of Khost serves as the capital of the province. To the east, Khost Province is bordered by North Waziristan and Kurram, which are districts in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Historically, Khost used to be a part of Paktia, and the larger region surrounding Khost is still referred to as Loya Paktia.
Logar (Dari: لوگر; meaning Greater Mountain is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan located in the eastern section of the country. It is divided into 7 districts and contains hundreds of villages. Ahmadzai Pashtuns are influential in this region. Puli Alam is the capital of the province. As of 2021, Logar has a population of approximately 442,037. It is a multi-ethnic tribal society, with a 60% Tajik majority.
Paktia is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,000, which is mostly a tribal society living in rural areas. Pashtuns make up the majority of the population and a small percentage include Tajiks Gardez is the provincial capital. The traditional food in Paktia is known as (dandakai) which is made from rice and mung bean or green gram.
Pacha Khan Zadran is a militia leader and a politician in the southeast of Afghanistan. He was an ex anti-Soviet-fighter militia leader who played a role in driving the Taliban from Paktia Province in the 2001 invasion, with American backing, and he subsequently assumed the governorship of the province. In 2002, he engaged in a violent conflict with rival tribal leaders in the province over the Governorship of the province, shelling Gardez City and obstructing two separate appointed governors sent by Hamid Karzai.
Forward Operating Base Salerno is a former forward operating base used by the United States Armed Forces from 2002–2013 during Operation Enduring Freedom. It is located in the southeastern province of Khost, Afghanistan, near the city of Khost. On November 1, 2013, U.S. forces withdrew from FOB Salerno and transferred control of the installation to the Afghan National Army.
Gurbuz District is situated in the southeast part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. It borders Tani District to the west, Mando Zayi and Khost districts to the north and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan to the southeast. Governor of Gurbuz District is Abdulhai Zazi. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are responsible for all law enforcement activities in the district.
The following lists events that happened during 2002 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2004 in Afghanistan.
Khost (Matun) District is situated in the central and eastern part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. The district center is the town of Khost. Khost Airfield is situated 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the town of Khost.
Khost Airport, also known as Khost International Airport, is located in the eastern section of Khost, which is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is under the country's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), and is used for domestic and international flights. The Ministry of Defense also uses it for emergency relief purposes such when the recent earthquake occurred in the area.
Nadir Shah Kot District is situated in the western part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. It borders Paktia Province and Shamal District to the west, Qalandar District to the north, Musa Khel District to the northeast, Khost (Matun) District to the east, Mandozayi District to the southeast and Tani and Spera districts to the south.
Sabari & Yaqubi District is situated in the northwest part of Khost Province, Afghanistan. It borders Musa Khel District to the west, Paktia Province to the north, Bak District to the east and Tere Zayi and Khost districts to the south. Sabari & Yaqubi District has its own governor, who is appointed by the serving governor of Khost Province, and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are responsible for all law enforcement activities.
The Afghan Border Force (ABF) was responsible for security of Afghanistan's border area with neighboring countries extending up to 30 miles (48 km) into the interior and formed part of the Afghan National Army. In December 2017, most of the Afghan Border Police (ABP) personnel of the Afghan National Police were transferred to the Afghan National Army to form the Afghan Border Force. The ABP retained 4,000 personnel for customs operations at border crossings and international airports such as checking documents of foreigners entering the country or deporting them.
The Khost-Gardez Pass, frequently abbreviated as the K-G Pass, and known locally as the Seti-Kandow Pass, or the Satukandav Pass by Soviet forces, is the main land route connecting Khost, the capital of Khost Province, and Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, in eastern Afghanistan. The pass currently consists of a rutted dirt road, though it is slowly being improved by construction crews as part of the international reconstruction effort in Afghanistan.
Forward Operating Base Chapman, also known as Camp Chapman, was a United States Armed Forces Forward Operating Base located at the site of a former Afghan Army installation and was situated in Khost province, Afghanistan, on an airstrip 2 miles east of Khost.
2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003
In May 2020, a series of insurgent attacks took place in Afghanistan, starting when the Taliban killed 20 Afghan soldiers and wounded 29 others in Zari, Balkh and Grishk, Helmand on 1 and 3 May, respectively. On 12 May, a hospital's maternity ward in Kabul and a funeral in Kuz Kunar (Khewa), Nangarhar were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 56 people and injuries of 148 others, including newborn babies, mothers, nurses, and mourners. ISIL–KP claimed responsibility for the funeral bombing, but no insurgent group claimed responsibility for the hospital shooting.
On 16 April 2022, the Pakistani military conducted predawn airstrikes on multiple targets in Afghanistan's Khost and Kunar provinces. Afghan officials said the attacks killed at least 47 civilians and injured 23 others, mostly women and children. Most of the people killed had been displaced from North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, but the casualties in Kunar Province also included family members of a militant, according to locals. Initial reports described the attacks as either rocket strikes or aerial strikes carried out by a number of aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force, and Afghan officials claimed the operation was carried out by Pakistani military helicopters and jets. Pakistani officials initially denied Pakistan carried out the airstrikes, but Pakistani security officials later claimed the airstrikes involved drone strikes from inside Pakistani airspace, and that no aircraft were deployed. Some reports said the Pakistani airstrikes also targeted parts of Paktika Province.