Operation Cobra's Anger was a US-led offensive in Helmand province in southern

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 borde ...

. About 1,000

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

150 Afghan troops were involved, as well as a Danish armor attachment. The operation began in the early hours of December 4th, 2009. The goal of the operation was to disrupt

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 ...

supply and communications lines in the strategic Now Zad

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

of Helmand province. Also, to reopen the strategic coalition supply lines, leading into FOB Cafferetta, a USMC/ANA outpost, which was under siege by the Taliban, and could only be accessed by air. Marines Launch New Offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand Province – ABC News
Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved on 2011-02-13.

Operation

The operation began on 4 December 2009, when some 300 Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, and the Marine recon unit, Task Force Raider, dropped into the Now Zad valley via

Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

s and

Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventio ...

aircraft. This was the first time the Osprey were used in combat operations in Afghanistan, as well as the newly implemented M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle. There was a Danish armor attachment that took part in the operation as well. Throughout the recent years, the Taliban planted thousands of homemade

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

s, and dug in positions throughout the valley, in preparation for defense against coalition forces, that have been in this region since the early days of OEF. This area is located at the foot of the craggy Tangee Mountains. By the end of the third day of the operation, no major resistance had been encountered.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobra's Anger, Operation Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States Conflicts in 2009 Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 2009 in Afghanistan United States Marine Corps in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)