Operation Harekate Yolo (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

for ''front straightening'') was a two-part military operation involving

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

and

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 ...

government forces against 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 ...

as part of the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

. In late October 2007, Regional Command North along with

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

and Afghan National Security Forces launched its first major operation against hostile forces in the northern provinces. It was composed of about 2000 coalition troops from Afghanistan, Norway, Germany, Italy, Spain and Hungary and its purpose was to oust Taliban militants from several locations in the Ghowrmach district,

Faryab Province Faryab (Dari: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, which is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. It has a population of about 1,109,223, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a tribal society. The pr ...

, and

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...

, Badakhshan Province, wherefrom they had operated and caused a number of ANA and coalition casualties since early summer of 2007. The offensive followed threats of senior Taliban officers to expand the insurgency to the relatively peaceful north. Operation Harekate Yolo I was launched in late October and was composed of about 160 German paratroopers and 400 Afghan National Army soldiers. Its aim was to identify Taliban hideouts in the

Badakhshan province Badakhshan Province (Persian/ Uzbek: , ''Badaxšān'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower ...

and to drive the militants out of the district. The second stage of the offensive, Operation Harekate Yolo II, was launched on November 1. As announced by ISAF RC North commanding general

Brig. Gen. Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

D. Warnecke, ISAF forces detained several suspected insurgents on the first day of the operation, accused of having organized several attacks on

troops, including a suicide attack which seriously injured three Germans in October. It was composed of about 900 members of the Afghan National Army, 260

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...

troops from 2nd Battalion/Brig. N and

Kystjegerkommandoen ''Kystjegerkommandoen'' (KJK: in English "Coastal Ranger Commando") is a Norwegian amphibious unit trained to operate in littoral combat theatres, filling the role of a marine corps and coastal artillery. History The unit was created when it b ...

, 300 German troops, several dozen Italian troops, and some Hungarian and Spanish troops. Intelligence gathered by reconnaissance planes indicated the presence of about 300 Taliban forces in Ghowrmach. Between November 1, and November 6, Norwegian and German

forces along with Afghan security forces battled Taliban insurgents in the Ghowrmach district, Northwest Afghanistan, in what was described as "active warfare" by the Norwegian Department of Defense. The insurgents suffered a number of casualties while no casualties were reported for

/Afghan National Army force. The exact death toll had not yet been disclosed as of November 9, but according to Norwegian news reports "between 45 and 65 insurgents" were killed in action. The German Ministry of Defense verified a further 14 hostile fighters killed in action. The fighting erupted on November 3 and intensified through November 6. NATO aircraft provided

Close Air Support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...

during the operation, which ended on November 6/7. During the mission, a Norwegian

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

with the 2nd Battalion hit one of the Taliban insurgents from a distance of 1,380 meters on the first shot, using a

Barret M82 The Barrett M82 (standardized by the U.S. military as the M107) is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. Also called the Light Fifty (due to its chambering of ...

A1 . Another Norwegian

sniper team A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

shot and killed a Taliban insurgent from a distance of approximately 2,010 meters, although not a first round hit. Several targets were engaged with the Barrett, some of them almost 3000 meters away. In the aftermath, a Norwegian soldier was killed in an IED attack in

Maimana Maymana ( Persian/ Uzbek/Pashto: میمنه) is the capital city of Faryab Province in northwestern Afghanistan, near the Turkmenistan border. It is approximately northwest of the country's capital Kabul, and is located on the Maymana River, wh ...

on November 8. ANA's 209th Corps took over control of the district on the same day. Subsequent to the battle, a number of soldiers from the Norwegian Military Observer Team Navy (unit made up of soldiers from the

) were awarded the US Army's

Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

, for their efforts in expelling the Taliban from the Ghowrmach district.Official Norwegian Defence Force Website
Norwegian soldiers honoured
Operation Harekate Yolo was the combat debut of the

CV90 The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90; Sw. ''Stridsfordon'' 90, Strf90) is a family of Swedish tracked combat vehicles designed by Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration (''Försvarets Materielverk'', FMV), Hägglunds and Bofors during the mid-1980s to ea ...

armoured vehicle, used by the Norwegian Army.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harekate Conflicts in 2007 2007 in Afghanistan NATO operations in Afghanistan Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Germany Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Norway Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Italy Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Spain

See also

References