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Military


Afghanistan - Shahi Khot

For more Public Eye satellite imagery, see the Picture of the Week Gallery of satellite and other imagery of places in the news.
For more Public Eye satellite imagery, see the Picture of the Week Gallery of satellite and other imagery of places in the news.

On March 1st, 2002, coalition forces began a blocking and encirclement operation against Taliban and Al Quaida forces attempting to regroup in the Zhawar mountain region. Operation Anaconda began under the cover of darkness with an insertion near the village of Shahi Khot, 25 kilometers south of Gardez. Units participating in the operations included elements of the 101st Airborne division, 10th Mountain Divison, Special Operations Forces and Coalition forces from seven nations including Afghanistan. Of the 2,000 soldiers participating in operations, about half were Afghan while the other half consisted of approximately 800-900 U.S. conventional and Special Operating Forces, as well as an additional 200 coalition Special Operating Forces.

Several US helicopters received ground fire in the operation and two MH-47E Special Operations Helicopters were forced to land. Eight American service members were killed in action and about 40 wounded.

The mission of the Task Force was to destroy all al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in and around Objective Area Remington. Enemy forces in this area were reportedly dug in 'caves' and in natural fighting positions, using small arms, machine-guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars. There were reports of man-portable surface-to-air missile systems present. Ammunition, small arms, rocket propelled grenades, and mortars, as well as travel documents were found in some of the 'caves'.

Fire support for Operation Anaconda was provided by coalition aircraft including United States B-52s, F-16s, F-14s F-15Es, A/C-130 gunships and AH-64 Apache helicopters.

As of March 7, 2002, as many as 500 enemy guerrillas had reportedly been killed in the fighting.


Operation Anaconda terrain model used at a press briefing at Bagram Arifield Operation Anaconda terrain model used at a press briefing at Bagram Arifield
Enemy bunker destroyed by Apache Attack Helicopter using Hellfire missiles on the Gardez Valley during Operation Anaconda An enemy location is destroyed by smart bombs dropped by B-52 bombers in the Gardez Valley Afghan bunker in the Gardez Valley inside the battlefield of Operation Anaconda. The bunker was used by American Soldiers as headquarters for all communications and attacks inside the battle zone Bunker in the Gardez valley used by American Soldiers as headquarters for all communications and attacks inside the battle zone A bunker in the Gardez Valley of Afghanistan destroyed by AH-64 Helicopters during Operation Anaconda Damaged bunker on a ridge in the eastern Shah-i-Kot valley Bombed-out building in the eastern Shahi Khot valley believed to have been occupied by Taliban and Al Qaeda forces A high caliber weapon used by Taliban and al-Qaeda forces that presumably occupied the bombed out building seen in the foreground, stands guard over the valley below Weapons cache found near a destroyed Al Qaeda/Taliban bunker in the eastern Shahi Khot valley Ordnance and equipment found in the eastern Shahi Khot valley Ordnance and equipment found in the eastern Shahi Khot valley
Photo showing 'Razor 01', an MH-47E Chinook helicopter, sitting atop Takur Ghar, the site of a battle between U.S. special operations forces and al Qaeda fighters during Operation Anaconda in Marchd 2002. The battle resultted in the death of 7 US servicemen

Shahi Khot Maps and Imagery
Click on the small image to view a larger version

Global Position & Comparison to US
Overview of the Zhawar Mountain Range

Map showing the objective area
Objective area depicted on an Ikonos browse image

DoD released map of the Area of Operations during the Battle of Takur Ghar. That battle occurred on 3-4 March 2002, as part of Operation Anaconda. During that battle, seven US soldiers lost their lives
General location of Operation Anaconda Area of Operations

DoD released map of the objective area
Ojective area graphic depicting general disposition of forces

Russian 1-200,000 scale map of the objective area
Russian 1-200,000 scale map of showing the village of Shahi Khot

Ikonos browse imagery showing the terrain elevation surrounding the objective area
(in feet)
Ikonos Browse close-up of the village of Shahi-Khot


Video footage of airstrikes, used during DoD news briefing of March 18, 2002
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Video showing F-14 airstrike from the previous week on a cave entrance identified as being occupied by al Qaeda within the Anaconda area of operations Footage showing F-14 airstrike from the previous week on a cave entrance identified as being occupied by al Qaeda within the Anaconda area of operations Video showing F-18 airstrike from the previous week on fleeing al Qaeda forces attempting to exfiltrate the Anaconda area Footage showing F-18 airstrike from the previous week on fleeing al Qaeda forces attempting to exfiltrate the Anaconda area
[4.5 Mb]


Briefing Slide and video footage of airstrikes, used during DoD news briefing of March 12, 2002
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Image showing the area called 'The Whale' or 'The Whale's Back'. According to DoD, a numbers of al Qaeda and Taliban were still located in that area which is to the left of the area that has already been contained by coalition forces. The image above shows the terrain in which coaltion forces have been operating in and clearly depicts the hill mass referred to as The Whale
Aerial showing the area called "The Whale" or "The Whale's Back. According to DoD, a numbers of al Qaeda and Taliban were still located in that area which is to the left of the area that has already been contained by coalition forces. The image above shows the terrain in which coaltion forces have been operating in and clearly depicts the hill mass referred to as The Whale"
Video showing March 10, 2002, F-16 airstrike on a cave identified as being occupied by al Qaeda troops Footage showing March 10, 2002, F-16 airstrike on a cave identified as being occupied by al Qaeda troops Video showing March 10, 2002, F-14 airstrike on al Qaeda forces dug into positions near the 'Whaleback' Footage showing March 10, 2002, F-14 airstrike on al Qaeda forces dug into positions near the "Whaleback"


Video footage of airstrikes, used during DoD news briefing of March 8, 2002
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Video showing March 5, 2002, F-16 airstrike on dug-in al Qaeda fighting positions near the area known as Babulkhel Footage showing March 5, 2002, F-16 airstrike on dug-in al Qaeda fighting positions near the area known as Babulkhel Video showing March 5, 2002, F-15 strike on a cave entrance just south of Babulkhel Footage showing March 5, 2002, F-15 strike on a cave entrance just south of Babulkhel. According to DOD, the cave entrance was confirmed as destroyed
Video showing a flight of F-15s dropping numerous bombs on al Qaeda fighting positions and striking on March 7, 2002, enemy forces dug in on the side of a hill March 7, 2002, footage showing a flight of F-15s dropping numerous bombs on al Qaeda fighting positions and striking enemy forces dug in on the side of a hill Video showing showing a flight of F-15s dropping numerous bombs on al Qaeda fighting positions and hitting on March 7, 2002, al Qaeda positions in a valley March 7, 2002, footage showing a flight of F-15s dropping numerous bombs on al Qaeda fighting positions and hitting al Qaeda positions in a valley

Video footage of airstrikes, used during DoD news briefing of March 5, 2002
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Video showing March 3, 2002, F-16 airstrike on dug-in al-Quaeda fighting positions
Footage showing March 3, 2002, F-16 airstrike on dug-in al-Quaeda fighting positions [3.5 Mb]
Video showing March 3, 2002, F-16 airstrike on dug-in al-Quaeda fighting positions set within rugged terrain Footage showing March 3, 2002, F-16 airstrike on dug-in al-Quaeda fighting positions set within rugged terrain
[4 Mb] 		Video showing March 4, 2002, F-14 airstrike on a mortar position that was engaging friendly forces Footage showing March 4, 2002, F-14 airstrike on a mortar position that was engaging friendly forces. Visible in the video is the building housing the mortar and a truck which are both hit by munitions [4.5 Mb]



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