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

Helmand 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 18 ...

province in southern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

involving about 1,000

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

and 150 Afghan troops, as well as a Danish armor attachment. The operation began in the early hours of December 4th, 2009 and ended December 12, 2009. The goal of the operation was to disrupt

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

supply and communications lines in the strategic Nawzad

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing 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 over ...

of Helmand province, and to reopen the strategic coalition supply lines, leading into FOB Cafferetta, a USMC/ANA outpost. The FOB 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. The offensive began three days after an announcement by then-president of the United States

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

detailing a plan to increase the US presence in Afghanistan by another 30,000 troops.

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

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s and

Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionalit ...

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 had 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 had 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 Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Denmark 2009 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Marine Corps in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Al-Qaeda activities