Most of ZiaвЂ™s trucks were destroyed, and his troops retreated to Gardez. Special Forces Chief Warrant Officer Stanley L. Retreating under mortar and rocket fire, the Afghan column stumbled into a second ambush to the rear. Two of ZiaвЂ™s men were killed and 24 were wounded. His 450-man unit was caught in a mortar barrage and preВ vented from entering Sirkankel. When the operation began, Zia ran into trouble.

Reconnaissance forces slipped into the mountains a few days before the main attack was scheduled to begin on 27 February, but the operation was postponed 48 hours because of rainy, blustery weather. The two most significant zones were code-named Objectives Remington and Ginger. This noose of allied troops enclosed four specific combat zones. Special Forces teams were with each Afghan general to help coordinate operations. To the east and southeast of the combat area, Afghan generals Kamal Khan Zadran and Zakim KhanвЂ™s units had responsibility for the perimeter. Special Forces detachment acВ companied local Afghan commander Zia Lodin as his men entered the valley from the south and headed to Sirkankel to flush out suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. Central Command (CENTCOM) let the terrorists gather to present a larger target. Predator drones and other CIA intelligence assets spotted the enemy assembling in groups south of Gardez, but rather than immediately attacking, U.S. One Afghan villager said the people were told, вЂњIf you want to leave or stay it is up to you, but weвЂ™re staying in those caves because they were ours in the holy war against Russia.вЂќ 4 The terrorists gave 700 sheep to the people of Shah-i-Khot for their troubles others received bus fare. The terrorists, who had come to the valley villages six weeks before the battle began, took control prudently, most of the civilians left. Scattered groups, numbering as many as 20 members, including some family members, holed up in a 3,000-yearВold complex of mountain tunnels, caves, and crannies. The opposition forces were mostly non-Afghan al-Qaeda and Taliban members although the force also included some Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks, and Pakistanis. Temperatures hovered near 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. On the day battle began, the valley floor was sprinkled with small patches of snow. Mountain villages include the hamlets of Sher Khan Khel, Babal Khel, Marzak, Kay Khel, and Noor Khel. The actual snow line began about 100 feet above the valley floor. Only small juniper trees grow on the mountain slopes.

The surrounding mountain peaks rise to 11,000 to 12,000 feet. The base of the Shah-i-Khot Valley is approximately 8,500 feet in altitude. The terrain is rugged, and the peaks have many spurs and ridges. The battle area occupied about 60 square miles. Operation Anaconda began before dawn on 2 March 2002. Special Forces and other troops, and 200 special operations troops from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Norway, New Zealand, and Afghan allies. The mission involved about 2,000 coalition troops, including more than 900 Americans, 200 U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division, led the major effort to clean out remaining al-Qaeda fighters and their Taliban alВ lies in the Shah-i-Khot Valley. Hagenbeck 2ДЄs of 2 March 2002, Operation Anaconda was the largest combat operation in Afghanistan of the War on Terrorism that began after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. WeвЂ™ve killed several hundred of them, but they just keep coming. They just kept sending them into our meat grinder. Operation Anaconda, Shah-i-Khot Valley, Afghanistan, 2-10 March 2002 1 Reprint from Military Review March-April 2002 Adam Geibel В© 2002

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