The Korangal Valley campaign was a series of military operations conducted by
ISAF forces against
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 other local insurgents in the
Korangal Valley
Korangal Valley (alternatively spelled Korengal, Kurangal, Korangal; ps, کړنګل), also nicknamed "The Valley of Death" is a valley in the Dara-I-Pech District of Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan.
Agriculture and forestry
The valley ...
in
Kunar province
Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) 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- Ha ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, from October 2004 to April 2010. The campaign ended with a US withdrawal from the valley, after suffering heavy casualties, and a Taliban takeover of the area.
Army Special Forces and Rangers had conducted an unknown number of missions there prior to October 2004 when
3rd Battalion 6th Marines
3rd Battalion 6th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Also known as "Teufelhunden", it consists of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors. They fall under the 6th Marine ...
became the first Marine unit to conduct an operation there, followed by
3rd Battalion 3rd Marines
3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, abbreviated as (3/3), is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps, based out of Kaneohe, Hawaii. Known as either "Trinity" or "America's Battalion", the unit falls under the command of the 3rd Marine ...
the next month, which began conducting regular combat operations. On June 28, 2005, a US Joint Military Operation called
Operation Red Wings
Operation Red Wings (often incorrectly referred to as ''Operation Redwing'' or ''Operation Red Wing''), informally referred to as the Battle of Abbas Ghar, was a joint military operation conducted by the United States in the Pech District ...
, was conducted in Korangal in an attempt to find and eliminate a local warlord. A four-man team of Navy SEALs were ambushed on a ridge above the village of Salar Ban; three members were killed, and a Chinook helicopter sent to rescue them was shot down, killing another 16 soldiers, including eight more Navy SEALs. The fourth member of the team was missing in action for several days before being rescued.
In April 2006, 1-32IN, 3rd BCT, 10th MTN, built a base at a sawmill and lumberyard in the valley and used them to build the Korengal Outpost. After that, they continued in an attempt to penetrate the six-mile-long by 0.62 mile-wide valley, but never made it more than halfway. The only area that US forces controlled was the northern part, while the southern part of the valley was under Taliban control from start to finish. There were only two missions to the valley’s southern end since 2005. In the words of the executive officer of Second Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, ''it would have taken a battalion-size force to make a foray there''.
Most of the opposition encountered by Coalition troops were not Taliban or Al Qaeda members, but the Korengalis themselves. From time to time, some Taliban forces and al-Qaeda operatives passed through the valley, but the hostility mostly came from the valley's inhabitants. Later on the Korangalis joined the insurgency. The valley was used as a route for fighters and weapons carriers to infiltrate Afghanistan.
US positions were attacked with rockets and mortars on an almost daily basis, and patrols were routinely ambushed after advancing only a few hundred meters outside the wire.
After years of sustained fighting and casualties with little evident progress, the US military closed Korangal Outpost on April 14, 2010 a decision made by Gen.
Stanley McChrystal
Stanley Allen McChrystal (born August 14, 1954) is a retired United States Army general best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from 2003 to 2008 where his organization was credited with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarq ...
. Five days after the US retreat, a video aired by Al Jazeera showed Taliban fighters among the remains of the former American outpost. Throughout the five-year campaign, the United States lost 54 men killed and some hundreds wounded, primarily between the years of 2006 and 2009. Afghan soldiers took heavier casualties, partly because of their poorer equipment. The valley was dubbed "The Valley of Death" by American forces.
For his actions during
Operation Rock Avalanche
Operation Rock Avalanche was a six-day, US-led offensive from 19 to 25 October 2007, with the purpose of hunting Taliban fighters in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. The mission also aimed to establish a peace with the local populace so that ...
in October 2007, Staff Sergeant
Salvatore Giunta
Salvatore Augustine Giunta (; born January 21, 1985) is a former United States Army soldier and the first living person since the Vietnam War to receive the United States Armed Forces' highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor. Giunta was ...
received the United States military's highest decoration for valor, the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
. He was the first living person since the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
to receive the award. When his patrol was ambushed on October 25, 2007, Giunta managed to save his team's sergeant, Joshua Brennan, from being dragged away and captured by two Taliban fighters. When Giunta saw Brennan being taken away, after he was wounded in the initial burst of fire, he rushed the enemy, killing one of the fighters and wounding the second. After that, he carried his sergeant to safety, but Brennan died of his wounds a few days later.
British professional photographer
Tim Hetherington
Timothy Alistair Telemachus Hetherington (5 December 1970 – 20 April 2011) was a British photojournalist. He produced books, films and other work that "ranged from multi-screen installations, to fly-poster exhibitions, to handheld de ...
won the
World Press Photo
World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...
award for 2008 with a shot he took while reporting on the war in the Korangal Valley for ''
Vanity Fair'' magazine in January 2008.
Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger (born January 17, 1962) is an American journalist, author and filmmaker who has reported in-the-field on Dirty,_dangerous_and_demeaning, dirty, dangerous and demanding occupations and the experience of Light_infantry#United_Sta ...
's (2010) book ''War'' and the subsequent film ''
Restrepo'' document his experiences while embedded with a US Army company in the Korangal valley.
See also
*
Operation Rock Avalanche
Operation Rock Avalanche was a six-day, US-led offensive from 19 to 25 October 2007, with the purpose of hunting Taliban fighters in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. The mission also aimed to establish a peace with the local populace so that ...
American operation in the Korengal Valley in October 2007.
*
Death of Linda Norgrove
On 26 September 2010, British aid worker Linda Norgrove and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan. She was working in the country as regional director for Development Alter ...
, Scottish aid worker held by Taliban forces in the Korangal Valley.
*
Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Honor
*
Firebase Phoenix
Firebase Phoenix was a small American firebase in the Korengal valley in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.
The valley is 20 km from the Pakistani border, northwest of the Khyber Pass and northeast of Tora Bora.
One of the purposes of the Fire ...
A satellite installation of the Korangal Outpost, along with FB Vegas, OP Restrepo, and OP Dallas.
*
Restrepo (film)
''Restrepo'' is a 2010 American documentary film about the War in Afghanistan directed by British photojournalist Tim Hetherington and American journalist Sebastian Junger. It explores the year that Junger and Hetherington spent, on assignment f ...
Documentary about B Company's deployment to the Korangal Valley, including Operation Rock Avalanche.
*
Korangal Valley
Korangal Valley (alternatively spelled Korengal, Kurangal, Korangal; ps, کړنګل), also nicknamed "The Valley of Death" is a valley in the Dara-I-Pech District of Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan.
Agriculture and forestry
The valley ...
References
{{coord missing, Afghanistan
Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States
Military operations involving the Taliban
Military campaigns involving the United States
2004 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
2005 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
2006 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
2007 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
2008 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
2009 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
2010 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
21st century in Kunar Province