The plan called for an attack on the valley, along with units positioned in the mountains to the east to prevent escape into Pakistan.
Hagenbeck, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Mountain, was put in command of the operation. In late January and February plans were drawn up to assault the Shahi-Kot Valley using Afghan military forces (AMF) advised and assisted by U.S. The signal intelligence also raised the possibility that high-value targets (HVTs) were present in the valley among which were Jalaluddin Haqqani and Saif Rahman. Increasing signals and human intelligence indicated a strong presence of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the Shahi-Kot Valley approximately 150 to 200 fighters were believed to be wintering and possibly preparing for a spring offensive in the valley. Others within AFO and the CIA were making the same connection. The Lower Shahikot bordered the Pakistani tribal lands where many al-Qaeda fighters were believed to have escaped to from Tora Bora. In February 2002, a Special Forces intelligence analyst working for Task Force Bowie began to identify patterns that led him to believe that surviving al-Qaeda forces were massing in the Lower Shahikot Valley, some 60 miles south of Gardez. Using his family's connections in the region Nasrullah Mansoor's son, Saif-ur-Rehman Mansoor, became the leading Taliban commander of Zurmat District in Paktia Province by 2002. Malawi Nasrullah Mansoor later joined the Taliban, becoming governor of Paktia Province before being killed in a battle with a rival warlord. Mansoor fortified the valley, digging trench systems, building bunkers and firing positions into the ridgelines, many of which would be put to effect during the operation. During the Soviet–Afghan War, Mujahideen leader Malawi Nasrullah Mansoor was in charge of the valley and invited foreign jihadists to base themselves in the Lower Shahikot. In the Lower Shahikot several imposing mountains dominate the landscape chief among them is Takur Ghar at the southeastern end of the valley to the northeast is Tsapare Ghar, dominating the northern entrance to the valley.
It is composed of two distinct areas, the Lower and Upper Shahi-Kot which run roughly parallel to each other.
The Shahi-Kot (which translates as the 'Place of the King') stretches 9 km in length and 5 km across at its widest point. forces estimated they had killed at least 500 fighters over the duration of the battle, however journalists later noted that only 23 bodies were found – and critics suggested that after a couple days, the operation "was more driven by media obsession, than military necessity". forces had estimated the strength of the rebels in the Shahi-Kot Valley at 150 to 200, but later information suggested the actual strength was of 500 to 1,000 fighters. Afghan Taliban commander Maulavi Saif-ur-Rehman Mansoor later led Taliban reinforcements to join the battle. 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. 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. forces participating in direct combat activities.īetween March 2 and Ma1,700 airlifted U.S. This was the first operation in the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. This operation was the first large-scale battle in the post-2001 War in Afghanistan since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. The operation took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan.
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