Battle of Do Ab

Last updated
Battle of Do Ab
Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Battle of Do Ab.jpg
US and Afghan troops during the battle
Date25 May 2011
Location
Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
Coalition forces, including:
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2013).svg  Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Flag of the Taliban.svg Taliban
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the United States.svg Major General John Campbell,
Captain Garrett Gingrich C-133 INF, 1LT Justin Foote 133 INF
Unknown
Strength
50 troops (approximate)
14 aircraft
300+ insurgents
Casualties and losses
None 270 killed (US estimate)

The Battle of Do Ab took place in Nuristan province, Afghanistan on 25 May 2011. In the battle, a scout platoon from the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, United States Army, 20 Afghan soldiers, and two United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) operators and one Law Enforcement Professional (LEP) retired police officer were ambushed by an estimated 400-500 Taliban near the village of Do Ab. With assistance from close air support, the coalition forces repulsed the ambush, killing approximately 270 Taliban. The coalition forces suffered no casualties.

Contents

Battle

After receiving reports of Taliban fighters massing to attack Forward Operating Base Kalagush, a scout platoon from the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, plus 20 Afghan soldiers and two US Air Force TACPs, and one Law Enforcement Professional (LEP) were airlifted by a pair of Chinook helicopters to a small landing zone in a canyon near the village of Do Ab. Unknown to the coalition troops, several hundred Taliban had surrounded the small landing zone and prepared an ambush. That morning, as soon as the helicopters landed the troops were attacked from all sides. [1]

The troops returned fire while the two TACPs radioed for air support. Throughout the day, airstrikes by US Air Force F-16s, F-15s, and AC-130 gunships, US Navy Super Hornets, and US Army AH-64 Apaches and OH-58 Kiowas prevented the Taliban from overrunning the coalition forces. An MC-12 aircraft provided command and control support and relayed the air support requests from the TACP, as the high canyon walls interfered with radio communications from the ground. Later in the day, Chinooks delivered a half team of U.S. special operations forces and Afghan commandos to support the surrounded Coalition troops. [1]

When night fell, the surviving Taliban halted the attack and attempted to retire from the battlefield. Two AC-130s, equipped with infrared equipment, hunted the retreating Taliban and attempted to kill them all. In total, the United States estimated that 270 of the Taliban were killed. [1]

Aftermath

After the battle in May 2011, Afghan and Coalition forces did not attempt to regain control of Nuristan province, which remained under Taliban control. Instead, Coalition forces conducted periodic sweeps or raids in the province to cull the numbers of occupying Taliban militants. A joint Afghan/Coalition operation in the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan in September 2011, for example, killed an estimated 70 Taliban fighters. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kunar Province</span> Province of Afghanistan

Kunar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- Hadith, Nazhat-e Hambastagi Milli, Hezb-e Afghanistan Naween, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Mountain Fury</span> Military operation in Afghanistan

Operation Mountain Fury was a NATO-led operation begun on September 16, 2006 as a follow-up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban insurgents from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Another focus of the operation was to enable reconstruction projects such as schools, health-care facilities, and courthouses to take place in the targeted provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Herrick</span> British operations in Afghanistan 2002–2014

Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and support to the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), within the South Asian country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006</span>

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, Australia and Canada leading similar deployments in Orūzgān Province and Kandahar Province respectively. The United States, with 2,200 troops, stayed in control of Zabul Province. Local Taliban figures voiced opposition to the incoming force and pledged to resist it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)</span>

The following items form a partial timeline of the War in Afghanistan. For events prior to October 7, 2001, see 2001 in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Sangin</span>

The siege of Sangin was a military engagement which occurred between June 2006 and April 2007, between Taliban insurgents and the British Army during the war in Afghanistan. During the engagement, the district centre of Sangin District in Helmand Province was occupied by British forces and was completely surrounded by Taliban fighters. At one point fighting became intensive, causing General David J. Richards, the then-NATO commander in Afghanistan, to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops since the Korean War. The siege became emblematic of the difficulty of the mission being carried out by British soldiers in Afghanistan, who nicknamed it "Sangingrad".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmand province campaign</span> 2006–2014 ISAF anti-Taliban military operations in southern Afghanistan

The Helmand province campaign was a series of military operations conducted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces against Taliban insurgents and other local groups in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Their objective was to control a province that was known to be a Taliban stronghold, and a center of opium production. None of the ISAF's intended strategic and political objectives were achieved in the long term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2007</span>

US and NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations, alongside Afghan National Army forces, continued against the Taliban through 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Wanat</span> 2008 battle of the War in Afghanistan

The Battle of Wanat took place on July 13, 2008, when around 200 Taliban insurgents attacked American troops stationed near Quam, in the Waygal district of Afghanistan's far eastern Nuristan province. The distant position was primarily defended by United States Army soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzbin Valley ambush</span> 2008 battle during the War in Afghanistan

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Musa Qala</span>

The siege of Musa Qala took place between July 17 and September 12, 2006 in Afghanistan's Helmand province. A small force of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops and Afghan security forces were besieged by Taliban insurgents inside the district centre of Musa Qala.

There were 2,402 United States military deaths in the War in Afghanistan, which lasted from October 2001 to August 2021. 1,921 of these deaths were the result of hostile action. 20,713 American servicemembers were also wounded in action during the war. In addition, 18 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives also died in Afghanistan. Further, there were 1,822 civilian contractor fatalities.

The Battle of Dahaneh took place in the town of Dahaneh, Helmand Province, and its surrounding areas as part of the Afghanistan War. It began when U.S. and Afghan troops launched an Operation to capture the town from the Taliban, in the Helmand Province of Southern Afghanistan. Coalition troops met heavy resistance, and believe the Taliban were forewarned of the incoming attack, though they were successful in securing Dahaneh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kamdesh</span> 2009 battle of the War in Afghanistan

The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 300 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32 km) away from Kamdesh. The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered 150-200 killed.

The following lists events that happened during 2006 in Afghanistan.

Events from the year 2009 in Afghanistan

Operation Moshtarak, also known as the Battle of Marjah, was an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) pacification offensive in the town of Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It involved a combined total of 15,000 Afghan, American, British, Canadian, Danish, and Estonian troops, constituting the largest joint operation of the War in Afghanistan up to that point. The purpose of the operation was to remove the Taliban from Marja, thus eliminating the last Taliban stronghold in central Helmand Province. The main target of the offensive was the town of Marjah, which had been controlled for years by the Taliban as well as drug traffickers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown</span> Attack on a U.S. military helicopter in Tangi Valley, Maidan Wardak Province

On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 was shot down while transporting a Quick Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Aranas</span>

The Aranas ambush was an attack by the Taliban against a US-Afghan patrol returning from a tribal meeting. The Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on US-Afghan forces, and the Americans managed to evacuate with their wounded in the darkness.

References