The 205th 'Atul' (Hero) Corps was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

-level

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

of the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

. Its headquarter were located in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

and it was responsible for the south of the country (

Zabul Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabu ...

Oruzgan Uruzgan (Dari), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot serves as th ...

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

and

Nimruz Nimruz or Nimroz (Dari: ; Balochi: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southwestern part of the country. It lies to the east of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran and north of Balochistan, Pakistan, also border ...

provinces), partnered with the

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

Regional Command South In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The Corps consisted of four

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

s, a commando battalion and three

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

s. The Corps had integrated artillery and air lift capacity. General Shafiqullah Rasulzai was appointed as the commander of the Corps in late November/December 2020. He was also the last commander of the Corps. In August 2021, the Corps was destroyed during the

Taliban offensive {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban o ...

and in

Battle of Kandahar Battle of Kandahar may refer to: * Battle of Kandahar (1880), the last major conflict of the Second Anglo-Afghan War * Battle of Kandahar (2001), the fall of the city in 2001, signaling the end of organized Taliban control of Afghanistan * Battl ...

History

The establishment of the corps started when the first commander, Gul Aqa Nahib, and some of his staff were appointed on 1 September 2004.Jane's World Armies The corps was officially established in Kandahar on 19 September 2004. Since August 2008, the Corps moved over 90,000 tonnes of supplies using

Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian service. ...

helicopters of the

Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...

. Three of the 205th Corps’ four infantry brigades were assessed as capable of conducting independent operations with minimal support from their combat advisors. "One of the brigades recently planned, executed and sustained themselves during a seven-day operation where they drove deep into what is called an enemy sanctuary or enemy safe haven to destroy identified enemy forces," a U.S. advisor said in December 2008. "They were successful leading the operation, with less than 30 mentors and 20 other coalition soldiers, in addition to their 300 ANA ground force," he said. "That was a great example of ANA’s capability to lead and conduct their own operations."RCAC Commander Updates Bloggers
accessed August 2009 The Corps' 3rd Brigade was heavily involved in fighting the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

and

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

in Helmand province, alongside British troops deployed as part of

Operation Herrick 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 Assis ...

. The Corps began formation with Kalashnikov rifles and miscellaneous civilian vehicles, but under coalition tutelage was reequipped with Western equipment. The Corps also supported an ANA regional hospital located in Kandahar, adjacent to Kandahar Airfield, dedicated to the security forces. It was a $5 million medical facility that also serves a trauma center.

2021 Taliban offensive

In August 2021, the corps was destroyed during the

and in

Provisional order of battle

*Headquarters, Camp Hero,

*Commando Battalion *Regional logistics depot *1st Brigade, Camp Hero,

*2nd Brigade, Qalat,

*3rd Brigade, FOB Pasab,

Zhari District Zhari ( ps, ژړۍ, fa, ولسوالی ژری) is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Zheley (due to transliteration from Pashto), Zharey, Zharay, Zheri, or Zheray. The district was created in 2004 from l ...

commanded by Brigadier General Murtaza *4th Brigade,

Multi National Base Tarin Kot Multi National Base Tarin Kot is a former International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) installation, used after the Netherlands Armed Forces' departure by the Afghan National Army. The base was located on the outskirts of Tarinkot, the capital ...

, Tarin Khowt,

, commanded by Brigadier General Zafar Khan (redesignated brigade of another corps which was transferred into the 205th Corps' area of responsibility) Each brigade had three infantry battalions, a combat support battalion, some with D-30 howitzers, and a combat service support battalion.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2013 Corps of Afghanistan Military units and formations established in 2004

History

2021 Taliban offensive

Provisional order of battle

See also

References