Operation Kryptonite was the name given to a joint operation including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the

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 ...

, representing the

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

and

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 N ...

. The operation itself was part of

Operation Achilles Operation Achilles was a NATO operation, part of the War in Afghanistan. Its objective was to clear Helmand province of the Taliban. The operation began on March 6, 2007. The offensive is the largest NATO-based operation in Afghanistan to date ...

. The intention of the operation was to clear the area around the Kajakai Dam, belonging to Taliban fighters so this important power generation station could be reopened. Sporadic fighting had been occurring around the dam and the Taliban controlled the town of

Musa Qala ; "Fortress of Moses") is a town and the district centre of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,043 m in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the district. Its pop ...

for around ten days as the Allied forces attempted to gain a foothold in the area so they could begin the offensive.

The battle

Allied Troops launched their offensive over the weekend of the 10th and 11th, little pre-raid bombing took place as to avoid damaging infrastructure in and around the dam. Destruction of the dam would have had grave results for both sides and the Afghan people. This may have been a major reason for the Taliban to not destroy it as they fled. Allied troops came under heavy small arms fire and light heavy arms fire including RPGs and

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 as they advanced towards the dam. Towards the end of the battle, it became obvious that although outnumbered, the ability of allied troops to cut the enemy's supplies was more demoralizing as Taliban forces started to flee the field of battle. Early Monday morning, allied forces carried out a pre-dawn bombing raid on Taliban forces located approximately in between the dam and the town, killing the Taliban commander Mullah Manan. This killing was seen as the straw that broke the camel's back, as not long after chaos ensued amongst the Taliban forces as they made a hasty retreat. This quote from Colonel Tom Collins describes the desperate Taliban retreat:

Aftermath

Although the Taliban never intended to topple the dam they still resorted to a semi-

scorched earth policy A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

. They destroyed or dismantled many of the complex mechanical components of the dam as they fled the field, to delay a NATO advance. Seizing of this dam and getting it up and running again was of great importance to the Allied troops, as restoring much needed power to the area would win support for the allied troops and the Afghan mission overall from the locals, as well as provide jobs in the energy sector.

reported that it suffered no casualties in the fighting, and that the number they killed or wounded is unknown. They did say however that they captured ten suspected militants during and after the battle. NATO also claims that no civilians were killed in the action (despite NATO claims that human shields were used), although this is refuted by local leaders.

External links

February 2007 - Afghanistan Update
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kryptonite 2007 in Afghanistan NATO operations in Afghanistan Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United Kingdom Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the Netherlands