The 2001 uprising in Herat was a coordinated insurrection and uprising in the Afghan city of

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

as part of the United States war in Afghanistan. The city was captured on November 12 by Northern Alliance forces as well as Special Forces of the United States, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and the Islamic Republic of Iran.Qassem Soleimani and Iran’s Unique Regional Strategy – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
''

Ali Soufan Ali H. Soufan (born 1971) is a Lebanese-American former FBI agent who was involved in a number of high-profile anti-terrorism cases both in the United States and around the world. A 2006 ''New Yorker'' article described Soufan as coming close ...

''. ''CTC Sentinel''. November 2018, Vol. 11, Issue 10. Combating Terrorism Center – CTC at West Point.
Permanent link and archived version at archive.is
Retrieved and archived on Nov 19, 2018.

The combatants

The U.S. Special Operations teams consisted of

U.S. Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

and

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

under the command of CENTCOM

General Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired general in the United States Army. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States military operations in a 25-country region, including the ...

. Iranian forces consisted of agents of the

Quds Force The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War ...

under the command of Major General

Yahya Rahim Safavi Yahya "Rahim" Safavi ( fa, یحیی (رحیم) صفوی, born 1952) is an Iranian military commander who served as the chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Early life Safavi was born in 1952 in the city of Isfahan, Iran. Ca ...

, commander of the

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

, and Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's

. The Northern Alliance faction consisted of over 5,000 militiamen under the command of

Ismail Khan Mohammad Ismail Khan (Dari/Pashto: محمد اسماعیل خان) (born 1946) is an Afghan former politician who served as Minister of Energy and Water from 2005 to 2013 and before that served as the governor of Herat Province. Originally a cap ...

, a commander in the previous

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and former governor of Herat before 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 ...

came into power in 1995.

UK Special Forces The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces ...

for reasons of national security remained anonymous and did not reveal their formal command structure.

The plan

The plan, organized by General Franks and General Safavi, was for Iranian Special Forces to discreetly enter the city and form an insurrection against the Taliban. This sudden event was to coincide with the entrance of Ismail Khan's band of Northern Alliance militia members into the city. Meanwhile, a team of U.S. Special Forces and

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agents would oversee the operation in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

alongside Iranian military intelligence.Iranian Special Forces Reportedly Fight Alongside US in Battle for Herat

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, 16 November 2001

The operation

Combat operations began on October 7, 2001. Towards the end of the month, U.S. air strikes hit targets in and around Herat, including tanks, communications facilities, and tunnel complexes. This also includes the Herat airport, where Russian-made fighters were destroyed. On 11 November 2001, U.S. Special Forces

Operational Detachment Alpha An operational definition specifies concrete, replicable procedures designed to represent a construct. In the words of American psychologist S.S. Stevens (1935), "An operation is the performance which we execute in order to make known a concept." F ...

554 ("Tiger 08") was inserted by helicopter near Herat. As planned, Iranian commandos secretly entered Herat to begin the insurrection on November 12, which successfully gave way to what Ismail Khan claimed to be, the local uprising against the Taliban leaders. The Northern Alliance, Shi'ite Hazara factions, and a small group of U.S. Special Forces then entered the city. Herati residents also took part in the uprising with sticks, knives, and guns hidden throughout the populace. The city fell as the Taliban fled towards the mountains along the Iranian border, leaving behind several abandoned tanks. Prisoners, including Chechen and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

volunteers, were taken to undisclosed locations.Ousting the Taliban from Herat relatively easy
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', 15 November 2001

Aftermath

The uprising was met with celebratory gunfire from residents. Iranian media even went as far as to report widespread celebration including 'dancing on the rooftops' and honking car horns.

consolidated his power as

Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

of western Afghanistan, reportedly accepting truck loads of money from Iran over the following month to secure loyalty of his forces. Khan granted amnesty for former Taliban fighters, but warned of repercussions if said fighters were to take up arms once again. Khan remained governor of Herat until 2004, when he was dismissed by Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

. Khan's dismissal was met with violent protests.US forces clash with protestors in W. Afghanistan
,

Asheville Global Report The Asheville Global Report (AGR) is an American liberal independent media outlet based in Asheville, North Carolina. Between 1999 and May 2007, the AGR published a free weekly newspaper. The organization also produced radio programming and a tele ...

, 15 September 2004

References

External links

* http://www.economist.com/people/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=842507 As Good As It Gets – Ismail Khan * https://web.archive.org/web/20060908134338/http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page1668.asp Prime Minister's Speech To Parliament in the War On Terror {{DEFAULTSORT:Herat Afghanistan conflict (1978–present) Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States Operations involving American special forces Battles involving Iran Conflicts in 2001 History of Herat Military operations involving Quds Force November 2001 events in Asia Rebellions in Afghanistan Qasem Soleimani Battles in 2001