Editing Operation Anaconda (section)

{{Short description|2002 military offensive against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban during the War in Afghanistan}}
{{Distinguish|Anaconda Plan}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Operation Anaconda
| partof            = the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]]
| image             = Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), participating in the Combined Joint Task Force Mountain's Operation Anaconda, prepare to dig into fighting positions after a day of reacting to enemy fire, March 2002.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = U.S. soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) prepare to dig into fighting positions during Operation Anaconda in March 2002.
| date              = March 2–18, 2002
| place             = [[Shah-i-Kot Valley]], [[Paktia Province]], [[Islamic State of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]]<br>{{Coord|33|22|N|69|11|E|type:event_region:AF|display=title}}
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| result            = Coalition victory
| status            = 
| combatants_header = 
| combatant1        = '''Coalition:'''<br>{{flag|United States|23px}}<br>{{flag|Australia|23px}}<br>{{Flagdeco|Afghanistan|2001}} [[Islamic State of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]]<br>{{flag|United Kingdom|23px}}<br>{{flag|Canada|23px}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Seth G. |title=In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan |date=12 April 2010 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-07142-9 |page=95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3O1dwEt1e6gC&q=In+the+Graveyard+of+Empires:+America%27s+War+in+Afghanistan |language=en}}</ref><br>{{flag|Germany|23px}}<br>{{flag|France|1974|23px}}<br>{{flag|Norway|23px}}<br>{{flag|Netherlands|23px}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neville |first1=Leigh |title=Special Forces in the War on Terror |date=19 May 2015 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-0790-8 |page=87 |language=English}}</ref><br>{{flag|Denmark|23px}}<br>{{flag|New Zealand|23px}}
| combatant2        = {{Flagdeco|Afghanistan|Taliban}} [[Taliban]]<br>[[File:Flag of Jihad.svg|border|23px]] [[al-Qaeda]]<br>[[File:Flag of Jihad.svg|border|23px]] [[Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan]]<ref name="isw">{{cite web|title=Uzbek Militancy in Pakistan's Tribal Region
|url=http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/BackgrounderIMU_28Jan.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/BackgrounderIMU_28Jan.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live| publisher = [[Institute for the Study of War]]|date=27 January 2011|access-date=13 October 2014}}</ref>
| commander1        = {{Flagdeco|United States}} [[Franklin L. Hagenbeck]]<br>{{Flagdeco|United States}} [[Francis J. Wiercinski|Frank Wiercinski]]<br>{{Flagdeco|Australia}} [[Rowan Tink]]<br>{{flagdeco|Afghanistan|2001}} [[Zia Lodin]]
| commander2        = {{Flagdeco|Afghanistan|Taliban}} [[Saif-ur-Rehman Mansoor]]<br>[[File:Flag of Jihad.svg|border|23px]] [[Tohir Yo'ldosh]]<ref name="isw"/>
| units1            = 
| units2            = 
| strength1         = 3,000 troops
| strength2         = 1,000 [[Taliban insurgency|insurgents]]
| casualties1       = {{Flagdeco|Afghanistan|2001}} 7 killed<ref name=CNN-Mar-2002>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/04/ret.afghan.fighting/index.html|title=Operation Anaconda costs 8 U.S. lives|work=CNN|date=4 March 2002|access-date=22 March 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608152808/http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/04/ret.afghan.fighting/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
{{Flagdeco|United States}} 8 killed (7 in the Battle of Takur Ghar)<ref name="ReferenceB">Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015  {{ISBN|978-1472807908}}, p.66-67</ref><br>82 wounded<br>2 [[CH-47 Chinook#MH-47E|MH-47 Chinook]] lost in the [[Battle of Takur Ghar]]
| casualties2       = 500+ killed
''United States claimed'': 800 killed<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015  {{ISBN|978-1472807908}}, p.67</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2012/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/17/ret.afghan.fighting/index.html|title=Operation Anaconda winds down - CNN |publisher=Archives.cnn.com |date=2002-03-17 |access-date=2013-11-22}}{{dead link|date=June 2016 |bot=Cyberbot II }}</ref>
| casualties3       = 
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox US war in Afghanistan}}
}}

'''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 (2001–present)|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 March 2 and March 18, 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 [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]] and heavy [[machine gun]]s 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.