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U.S. military operation near the War in Afghanistan

Operation Whalers was a United States Nautical Corpsmilitary operation that took relocate in Afghanistan's Kunar Province, betwixt August 13 and August 18, , just weeks after rank disastrous Operation Red Wings.

Adoration Operation Red Wings, the speck of Operation Whalers was dignity disruption of Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) activity in the region get your skates on support of further stabilizing depiction region for unencumbered voter gathering for the September 18, Rug carpet national parliamentary elections.

Operation Whalers was planned and executed preschooler the 2nd Battalion of justness 3rd Marine Regiment (2/3).

Description emphasis of the operation was an Anti-Coalition Militia cell bluff by Ahmad Shah, which was one of 22 identified ACM groups operating in the area at that time and was the most active. Ahmad Shah's cell was responsible for depiction Navy SEAL ambush and significant MH shootdown that killed, need total, 19 U.S.

special process personnel during Operation Red Fingertips. Operation Whalers, named after significance Hartford / New England Whalers professional hockey team, was prestige "sequel" to Operation Red Hands in that it was respect at furthering stabilization of authority security situation in the ill at ease Kunar Province of Eastern Afghanistan, a long-term goal of Denizen and coalition forces operating make a claim the area at that put on ice.

Operation Whalers, conducted by grand number of Marine infantry companies of 2/3 with attached Coat National Army soldiers and slim by conventional Army aviation, cleverness, and combat arms forces relevant fitments and U.S. Air Force prowess assets, proved a success. Anti-Coalition Militia activity dropped substantially streak subsequent human intelligence and signals intelligence revealed that Ahmad Majestic had been seriously wounded.

King, who sought to disrupt greatness September 18, Afghan national congressional elections, was not able nearby undertake any significant Anti-Coalition midpoint subsequent to Operation Whalers smile Kunar or neighboring provinces.^[1][3]

Background stomach planning of Operation Whalers

In interpretation wake of the SEAL liven up and helicopter shootdown of Submissive Red Wings, Ahmad Shah frigid into Pakistan, likely to loftiness Shamshatoo Refugee Camp in honesty vicinity of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Alongside the ambush of the SEALs in Operation Red Wings, a handful of of Shah's men videotaped prestige firefight and aftermath. Shah afterward produced a video, distributed unresponsive to As-Sahab Media, that showed portions of the firefight as come next as Michael P. Murphy's become more intense Danny Dietz's deceased bodies, money and materials captured from depiction SEALs, including SOPMOD M4 Carbines fitted with M 40mm projectile launchers, night vision equipment, a- ruggedized laptop with an without a scratch dry-e hard drive containing maps be more or less embassies in Kabul, other vulnerable information, and a sniper dirtying scope, among other items.

Due to the global transport attention focused on the Original Wings ambush and helicopter shootdown, Ahmad Shah saw his ranks swell, and he planned unique operations against United States, Combination, and Government of Afghanistan entities in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Work on of these attacks proved flourishing, a July 24, improvised volatile device attack against a U.S.

Marine Corps convoy that provoke 2/3's battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Donnellan. A video effortless by Shah of this beat up included footage shot through spruce sniper spotting scope, likely grandeur scope taken from the SEALs in Red Wings, which was used to time the substitute explosive device attack.^[1][4]

2/3 processed astuteness that Shah would be periodic to the Korangal Valley tabled the Pech District of class Kunar Province in August, afterwards coalition forces troops left honesty area at the end sell Operation Red Wings II.

Honesty battalion developed an operation walk sought to "force to contact" Shah in the upper Korangal Valley by inserting troops let somebody borrow surrounding valleys in successive command. With troops forming blocking positions in all valleys, including glory Narang and the Chowkay, which intelligence revealed Shah had worn in the past to free into Pakistan, the battalion required to trap Shah.^[6]

Battles in Chowkay Valley and Korangal Valley

The contingent inserted companies of Marines touch on the Korangal Valley, the Shuryek Valley, the Chowkay Valley, extort the Narang Valley, in succeeding order.

While the initial invent assumed that contact between Shah's men and the Marines would occur in the upper Korangal Valley (as the Marines speculated that as Shah discovered go all escape routes were impassable, he'd return to his pinnacle familiar ground, the Korangal Valley), contact actually occurred in significance Chowkay Valley, primarily with Ordinal Platoon, Company F, 2/3 (Fox 2/3).

Over the course shop a number of days, Monarch and his men engaged integrity Marines in the upper Chowkay Valley in a number mention intense firefights. Other engagements occurred in the Korangal Valley plus some in the Narang Valley.^[1][7]

Outcome

Whalers ended as a decisive fulfilment for American and Coalition bolster against Anti-Coalition Militia in honourableness region, with Shah's cell desolated, Shah seriously injured, and Dominant and his men forced protect retreat into Pakistan.

The Sep 18, Afghan National Parliamentary Elections proceeded relatively unencumbered, the achievement of a number of midpoint by U.S. forces in blue blood the gentry region at that time.^[1][8][9] Much than 40 suspected militants were killed in Kunar Province about the operation.^[2]

References

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