Operation Anaconda 2002
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 2002 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Afghanistan | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 33.3667, 69.1833 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
Operation Anaconda or the Battle of Shah-i-Kot was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the war in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took place in the Shah-i-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat. This operation was the first large-scale battle in the post-2001 war in Afghanistan since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. This was the first operation in the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. forces participating in direct combat activities.
Between 2 and 18 March 2002, 1,700 airlifted U.S. troops and 1,000 pro-government Afghan militia battled between 300 and 1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters to obtain control of the valley. The Taliban and al-Qaeda forces fired mortars and heavy machine guns from entrenched positions in the caves and ridges of the mountainous terrain at U.S. forces attempting to secure the area. Afghan Taliban commander Maulavi Saif-ur-Rehman Mansoor later led Taliban reinforcements to join the battle. U.S. forces had estimated the strength of the rebels in the Shah-i-Kot Valley at 200 to 250, but later information suggested the actual strength was of 500 to 1,000 fighters.
The operation was delayed with two days due to bad weather forecasts.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Operation Anaconda (revision 1370630648), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Takur Ghar 2002 · 4 km
- Battle for Hill 3234 1988 · 11 km
- Siege of Urgun 1983 · 52 km
- Siege of Khost 1980 · 68 km
- Battle of Charasiab 1879 · 115 km
- Second Battle of Charasiab 1880 · 115 km
Other battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Bombing of Kandahar (2001) 2001
- Fall of Kabul (2001) 2001
- Fall of Kandahar 2001
- Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif 2001
- Siege of Kunduz 2001
- Battle of Takur Ghar 2002
- Friendly fire incident at Sangin 2006
- Siege of Musa Qala 2006
- Battle of Chora 2007
- Battle of Firebase Anaconda 2007
All 33 battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) →
Browse more: battles in Afghanistan · Asia · Post-1945 battles