A skirmish occurred on the morning of February 10, 2003 outside Lejay, a small village in the northern, mountainous part of

Helmand Province 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 ...

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 ...

. The village is in the Baghran valley, and one of the few highways in Afghanistan passes through it. American intelligence analysts assert that the village is the focus of the

Opium Trade Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

. Vehicles approaching the village report being fired on. In response American forces mobilized hundreds of troops to comb the country surrounding the village in Operation Eagle Fury. The Operation mobilized dozens of coalition warplanes.

Differing accounts of the skirmish

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Roger King, a

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

spokesman in

Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/ fa, بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir ...

offered daily briefings on the initial skirmish, and the on Eagle Fury. In 2004 the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the

Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were estab ...

s of the captives apprehended following the initial shooting incident offered a different account.

Colonel King's 2003 account

According to Colonel King: *An ambush occurred around dawn on February 10, 2003. *American forces saw five shooters, who retreated into nearby caves, when the forces on the ground called in air support. The Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the villagers who were sent to Guantanamo, on the other hand: * Said that the American vehicles were fired on at around 10:30 am. * That American forces saw the shooters escape in a white car. * That the American forces were not on a routine patrol, that they had set out to capture warlord

Raes Abdul Wahed Raes Abdul Wahed ''(also transliterated as Abdul Rais Wahid and Abdul Wahid)'' is an Afghanistan, Afghan warlord. According to an article in the May 23, 2002 issue of Time (magazine), ''Time'' magazine, Wahed was a Taliban commander who surren ...

, described as the Taliban District Commander.

References

{{Afghanistan War Conflicts in 2003 Lejay Lejay February 2003 events in Asia History of Helmand Province