Operation Dragon Strike
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Operation Dragon Strike was a NATO counter-insurgent mission in
Kandahar province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan ...
,
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 ...
, against Taliban forces, which started on September 15, 2010.


Planning

The aim of the operation was to reclaim the strategic southern province of Kandahar, which was the birthplace of the Taliban movement. The area where the operation took place has been dubbed "The Heart of Darkness" by Coalition troops. The basic concept of the coalition operation, code-named Dragon Strike, was a series of sequential, mutually reinforcing attacks across the entire district to seize control of key nodes and movement corridors in the enemy system, and destroy enemy strongholds and IED and weapons facilitation networks. By advancing simultaneously across the district, ISAF and ANSF forced the Taliban to simultaneously defend multiple positions. Most importantly, ISAF for the first time moved into Zhari with the intention and resources to hold key terrain and to work with the local population to prevent insurgent re-infiltration.


Battles

The first in a series of decisive attacks across the entire district began in the early morning hours of September 15, 2010. But in the months preceding Dragon Strike, Afghan and coalition special forces had conducted shaping operations in Zhari. Many of these were kill or capture operations against insurgent leadership in Zhari, which successfully removed numerous Taliban commanders, IEDcell leaders, and facilitators. 195 Successful targeted missions continued while ISAF battle-space owners advanced through the district. In mid-October 2010, ISAF killed both of the Taliban's field commanders for Zhari, Kaka Abdul Khaliq and his deputy Kako. The main force leading the operation were units from the
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
. Some of the heaviest of the fighting during the operation had been in the
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 ...
, which is on the main highway to Kandahar and a major insurgent supply route into the city, the
Arghandab District Arghandab (Pashto/ fa, ارغنداب) is a district in the central part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Panjwai and Khakrez districts to the west, Shah Wali Kot District to the north and east and Kandahar District to the east an ...
and the Panjwaye District. By the end of December 2010, the operation's main objectives had been accomplished. The majority of Taliban forces in Kandahar had withdrawn from the province, and much of their leadership was said to have been fractured. The operation has also drawn large criticism from the local civilian population because of claims of heavy-handed tactics by the U.S. military. During October, U.S. troops destroyed hundreds of Afghan civilian homes, farm houses, walls, trees and plowed through fields and buildings using explosives, bulldozers, aerial bombardment and rocketry in
Zhari 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 ...
, Punjwayi and Arghandab districts. Photographs revealed one village,
Tarok Kolache Tarok Kolache was a small settlement in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. On October 6, 2010, Lieutenant Colonel David Flynn, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force 1-320th gave the order to drop of rockets and aerial bombs on the village whic ...
, to have been totally destroyed by aerial bombing, while several other villages including
Khosrow Sofla Khosrow Sofla was a village in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan that was demolished by the United States Army in October and November 2010. After experiencing high casualties resulting from firefights and improv ...
, Khosrow Ulya, and
Lower Babur Lower Babur is a village in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan that was destroyed by American military forces in October and November 2010.Ackerman, Spencer‘Why I Flattened Three Afghan Villages’ ''Wired Magazine ...
were reported destroyed by journalists working in the area. The governor of
Arghandab District Arghandab (Pashto/ fa, ارغنداب) is a district in the central part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Panjwai and Khakrez districts to the west, Shah Wali Kot District to the north and east and Kandahar District to the east an ...
reported additional villages to have been destroyed. Lt. Col. David Flynn told reporters that villagers knew the locations of IEDs, and were given the option of removing them to prevent their villages from being destroyed. Military officials later stated that most of the farms, orchards and buildings destroyed had been booby-trapped by the Taliban. Also, they argued that the destruction was positive in that it would force Afghan residents to go to their local government center for compensation, seeing this as a way to connect the civilian population to the Afghan government. In late December, the civilians, displaced by the fighting, had started to go back to their homes only to find them destroyed. The damages caused by Coalition troops to civilian property were estimated to be more than 100 million dollars by two separate bodies within the Afghan government. Of that sum, Coalition forces agreed to pay approximately 5 million.King, Laura
United States Rebuilds Where It Destroyed
''
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 Un ...
'', 6 March 2011.


Iranian Involvement

On 24 December 2010 it was reported that an officer, from the elite Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, was captured by
U.S. Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...
on December 18, a NATO spokesman said. Described as "a key Taliban weapons facilitator", he was arrested in Nor Muhammaed Koloche, in Kandahar province. It is the first reported capture of an Quds Force officer in Afghanistan. The joint security team specifically targeted the individual for facilitating the movement of weapons between Iran and Kandahar through Nimroz province.


Operational Forces

* 101st Airborne Division, 2nd ''Brigade'' Combat Team "''STRIKE"'' ** 1-502 Infantry Regiment ** 1-75 Cavalry Regiment ** 2-502 Infantry Regiment ** 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion ** 1-320 Field Artillery Regiment ** 526 Brigade Support Battalion **1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion (A Co, 2nd Platoon) (attachment) * 2d Platoon 723d EOD 184th OD BN (EOD) *A Co 431st Civil Affairs BN (attached) * 101st Airborne Division, 3rd ''Brigade'' Combat Team "''RAKKASAN"'' *3d Squadron 2d Cavalry Regiment (Stryker) * 416th TEC, 372nd EN BD, 416 EN BN, 863 EN BN (Attached) ** 428th Engineer Company (Combat) * 864th EN BN (Construction Effects) (General Support) ** 23rd EN CO (Sapper) (Airborne) ** 3d Platoon 53D OD CO (EOD) ** 557th EN CO (Horizontal) ***994th EN CO (Combat Heavy) (VERTICAL) (Attached) ** 84th EN DET (S&D) ** 28th EN DET (Conc) ** 211th EN DET (Conc) ** NMCB 21 DET Kandahar (USNR) (US Navy Seabees) ** NMCB 18 (USNR) (US Navy Seabees) * 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment * ANA Kandak, 3rd BDD of the 205th Corps *Blackhawk CO.1 -22 1BCT 4ID *1-71 RSTA 1st BCT 10th Mountain


See also

*
Arghandab District Arghandab (Pashto/ fa, ارغنداب) is a district in the central part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Panjwai and Khakrez districts to the west, Shah Wali Kot District to the north and east and Kandahar District to the east an ...
*
Kandahar Province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan ...
*
Tarok Kolache Tarok Kolache was a small settlement in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. On October 6, 2010, Lieutenant Colonel David Flynn, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force 1-320th gave the order to drop of rockets and aerial bombs on the village whic ...
*
Khosrow Sofla Khosrow Sofla was a village in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan that was demolished by the United States Army in October and November 2010. After experiencing high casualties resulting from firefights and improv ...
*
Lower Babur Lower Babur is a village in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan that was destroyed by American military forces in October and November 2010.Ackerman, Spencer‘Why I Flattened Three Afghan Villages’ ''Wired Magazine ...


References

{{coord missing, Afghanistan Dragon_Strike 2010 in Afghanistan Dragon_Strike Wars involving the Taliban Dragon_Strike