2RHPZ
05-26-2004, 12:59 AM
Australia: The War Against Terrorism
The Australian SASR At War In Afghanistan
by Benjamin James Morgan - Brisbane, Australia
August, 2002
Bagram And Operation ANACONDA:
The Australian SFTG subsequently relocated once again,
this time to Bagram Airfield, which had been captured by
Coalition forces in November 2001. The SFTG currently
shares Bagram with more than 5,000 Coalition troops, in
addition to a large number of American and British
combat support and ground attack aircraft including
AH-64D Apache helicopters and A-10 Warthogs. Bagram lies
in a dry dusty plain surround by magnificent snow capped
mountains, yet whilst the view is outstanding the rest
of the base is fairly basic, being a former Soviet
facility. Fortunately for the Australians American
forces have made strenuous efforts to improve the area
for its personnel and those of the Coalition with the
base now provided with such luxuries as showers and
electricity. Bagram and its surrounds have been fought
over numerous times in the last few decades and as a
consequence the area is heavily sown with landmines and
unexploded ordinance, making life hazardous. Luckily
much progress has been made by Coalition and
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel
in clearing mines from the area, yet as with the rest of
Afghanistan much danger remains.
Operation ANACONDA commenced on the 2nd of March 2002
and was the largest Coalition operation of the war up to
this date, seeing the Australian SASR heavily engaged
along side more than 2,000 Coalition troops, including
about 900 Americans from the 10th Mountain Division and
the 101st Airborne, about 1,000 allied Afghan soldiers
and 200 allied special forces from Australia, Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany and Norway. More than 100
Australians from the SASR SFTG were involved, whilst a
small team from the New Zealand SAS were also rumoured
to have taken part in the operation. ANACONDA began
following the location of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in
the Shah-i-Kot valley by Coalition forces which had been
conducting SR tasks in the region after it was suspected
of being used as an enemy operating base. According to
Australian & New Zealand Defender (No 38) elements of
the SASR were involved in locating the enemy forces then
concentrating in the Shah-I-Kot. The subsequent battle
was spread over 70 square miles with significant enemy
forces dug in in the caves and mountains of the area,
with operations further complicated by extreme
environmental conditions including sub-zero temperatures
and difficulties associated with altitude. Indeed much
of fighting took place at altitudes as high as 14,000
feet, with the thin air and lack of oxygen taking its
toll on both the men and machines of the Coalition,
restricting physical movement and preventing many
helicopters from being effectively utilised.
The Coalition plan to attack the enemy located in the
Shah-i-Kot valley called for a several-****ged attack
originating from Gardez, Zurmat and Shah-i-Kot, and
supplemented by allied Afghan forces blocking suspected
escape routes in the far eastern part of the valley,
near Khost and in the south near Paktika. After being
postponed for 48 hours due to bad weather, elements of
the 10th Mountain Division assaulted suspected enemy
positions at Sarkhankhel, Marzk and Babkul in one ****g
of the attack, whilst other units of the 10th Mountain
Division blocked ravine exits at battle positions
farther west. Troops from the 101st Airborne came in
from the northern part of the valley, east of Afghan
commander Ziahuddin?s advance. Allied Afghan forces
under General Ziahuddin, accompanied by USSF, attempted
to enter the Shah-i-Kot valley from the direction of
Zurmat, but the convoy was fiercely attacked, resulting
in the death of an American soldier. Whilst originally
labelled a blocking operation it soon turned into a
reconnaissance in force on what was then found to be a
heavily-defended enemy position, lasting more than 18
hours. On the 3rd of March, American advisers withdrew
closer to Gardez in order to further plan how to counter
the unexpectedly strong resistance. A contingent of 600
allied Afghans was also forced to retreat in the opening
stages of the battle on the 2nd of March after coming
under heavy mortar fire. Other Coalition moves on the
opening day of the operation were similarly afflicted,
nearly resulting in disaster, with a number of
Australians caught up in the haphazard initial phases.
In a rare interview with The Courier Mail (17th of June
2002) two Australian SASR veterans of Operation ANACONDA
told of their experiences during an ill informed
American airmobile company assault on the first day of
the operation, surviving some of the most intense
fighting experienced by Australian soldiers since the
Vietnam War. Under fire from the enemy and trapped in
the open without cover two Australian SASR liaison
officers attached to an US Army company survived by
digging fox holes with their bare hands and combat
knives, to protect themselves and the mounting wounded.
The Courier Mail continued:
??I was lying on my back in my hole looking up and the
tracer fire was criss-crossing like the laser alarm
systems you see in the bank vault of a movie,?? an SASR
officer said...?
?A 45-year-old Perth father-of-two, SASR Warrant Officer
Clint P (we cannot reveal his full name) said he knew he
was in trouble soon after arriving by chopper. As he ran
from the Chinook, the smoke of a rocket-propelled
grenade [RPG] was trailing straight at him. He stopped
and as he instinctively threw up his left arm, he
watched the grenade pass beneath it and hit the ground
about 2m behind him. It didn?t explode.
?The time was 6.45am on Saturday, March 2, 2002 on the
opening day of the Allies?... to herald Operation
Anaconda. ?We hadn?t move 100 metres from the choppers
when we started taking heavy fire from machine guns and
RPGs. It was relentless,? he said in an interview at the
SASRs Perth headquarters.
??There was no cover and 82 people were looking for
some. We didn?t understand what was out there.?
?Warrant Officer P and SASR Signaller Jock W believe if
they had not been evacuated at midnight the entire force
would have been wiped out the next day. I was lying in
my hole watching a B-52 fly over at 20,000 feet with its
bomb doors open and hearing the pilot say ?bombs gone?.
I remember hoping he had got it right and I had more
than 17 seconds to live,? Warrant Officer P said.
The strategy during the opening phase of Operation
ANACONDA had been to block a large concentration of
enemy fighters in the Shah-i-Kot Valley by massing
troops at either end. Yet due to intelligence failures
and the fog of war, unbeknown to the American planners
hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters had anticipated a
Coalition assault on the Shah-I-Kot and had fled into
the mountains nearby. Consequently the enemy came to
control positions within shooting distance of the
landing zone selected for the American company.
The enemy was dug in above the snow line on the eastern
ridge, yet thanks to the high angle of fire no one was
hit during the opening salvos. The only available cover
was a small depression, with a dry creek bed running
through the depression. The two SASR men hit the ground
and began digging in with their bare hands, with mortar
rounds exploding around them. Things got worse when the
SASR soldiers noticed a force of about 26 enemy fighters
on the opposite ridge line. ?We killed some of them but
then started taking fire from that side as well,?
Warrant Officer P was quoted as saying. Air strikes were
subsequently called in but the Apache helicopters were
forced back after taking heavy volumes of fire. B-52
bombers later hammered the enemy positions, yet as
Warrant Officer P continued ?Before the dust had settled
they were out shooting at us again. They were even
waving at us... it was a little disappointing.? By the
end of the afternoon the creek bed had been completely
dug out to protect a large and growing number of
wounded. ?They were packed in like sardines. If a mortar
had landed in there it would have been carnage.?
According to The Courier Mail (17th of June 2002) it now
became clear to the men on the ground that they were
locked in a fight for their survival, yet at the
critical moment much of their technology proved faulty,
with most radios failing, forcing the Americans to
employ runners to pass orders. Late in the afternoon a
large enemy assault commenced, lasting some 25 minutes,
yet it was held at bay. At 1830 local time US Army
Blackhawk helicopters were finally able to begin to
evacuate the wounded. Nearing dusk, AC-130 Spectre
gunships arrived on the scene, dramatically improving
the situation for the embattled company.
The American company and its two SASR Liaison Officers
subsequently endured 12 hours of intense enemy fire,
with 30 Americans wounded before the company was
extracted at 2400. Whilst heavy losses were inflicted on
the enemy this action highlighted a number of tactical
problems, with Coalition intelligence said to have
miscalculated badly in selecting a landing zone on a
flat, open plateau, within range of the enemy who
controlled the high ground. Equally, problems with
aspects of the reliance on American airpower were
apparent. Indeed The Courier Mail (17th of June 2002)
claimed that during the initial phase of Operation
ANACONDA American aircraft dropped just 10 percent of
the bombs allocated to reduce enemy positions prior to
the company assault, whilst those bombs that were
dropped seemingly had little effect. Yet on the other
side of the airpower coin it seems doubtful that the
beleaguered company, and the Australian?s attached to
it, could have survived were it not for the withering
fire from the American AC-130 Spectre gunships, which no
doubt allowed the company to be successfully extracted.
Whilst the planning for Operation ANACONDA was thorough
in most respects, the experience of the American company
and Warrant Officer P and Signaller W on the first day
showed that it was somewhat flawed, especially in the
initial phases. Just a few hours before the company was
inserted they were told that enemy numbers might be
higher than expected, with estimated enemy strength
jumping from 100 to 500 and even then they turned out to
be more. Indeed some estimates assert that as many as
1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters dug in to fight in
the Shah-i-Kot.
Operation ANACONDA was originally supposed to last just
two days, yet it continued until the 14th of March.
During the operation and the subsequent follow up
mission, Operation HARPOON, the Australian SASR were
deployed to a number of observation and blocking
positions around enemy positions whilst American, Afghan
and Canadian light infantry were tasked with flushing
out the enemy in sweep and clear operations.
Whilst tasked with a relatively seemingly non-dramatic
part of the action, as already witnessed, the SASR were
soon in the thick of the fighting, involved directly in
contact with the enemy. Early on the morning of the 4th
of March a troop insertion by two MH-47 Chinook was
foiled, with one helicopter damaged, resulting in a Navy
SEAL falling from the aircraft, at a position over
looked by an Australian covert Observation Post (OP).
Three hours later at 0630 local time, two more
helicopters laden with American troops arrived to
reinforce the point and rescue the missing Navy SEAL,
with one crash landing after being struck by enemy fire.
The Americans were then ambushed by a large enemy force
as they disembarked from the stricken helicopter, taking
heavy casualties. Subsequently Australian SASR troops
took part in a joint operation that saved 36 American
lives from the position at which 7 Americans were killed
and 11 wounded. During the Combat Search and Recovery
(CSAR) operation the Australian patrol manning an
overlooking OP was kept busy calling in airstrikes to
subdue enemy forces and engaging enemy elements with
their small arms as they desperately fought to help save
the encircled Americans. Several American teams
successfully extracted the beleaguered force after
night-fall, twelve hours after the first incident.
SASR personnel continued to play a pivotal part during
the operation conducting covert reconnaissance and
directing airstrikes on to enemy positions, whilst also
directly engaging enemy personnel in combat. As
Operation ANACONDA progressed the Coalition called for
reinforcements, with the interim government in Kabul
rushing in over 1,000 additional allied Afghan fighters
whilst a further 300 American soldiers were also
deployed by the 8th of March, whilst a 500-man battalion
of Canadian infantry from the 3rd Battalion, the
Princess Patricia?s Light Infantry (3PPLI) were also
later inserted. With increased resources and a more
accurate intelligence picture Coalition forces gradually
tightened their grip on the enemy, advancing on enemy
positions which were subsequently reduced by large
scale, and relatively accurate, airstrikes conducted by
the USAF as well as some French aircraft.
According to a report in The Courier Mail (16th of March
2002) Australian SASR operations in the later phase of
Operation ANACONDA included conducting a raid on a
village suspected of harbouring Taliban and al-Qaeda
fighters fleeing Coalition operations in the Shah-i-Kot
Valley. The Australians had been tasked with occupying
blocking positions to cut off the southern escape routes
for enemy fighters bunkered down in the caves and tunnel
systems to the north of the mud brick village of
Oryakhail. Later two Australian LRPVs loaded with SASR
troops swooped on the tiny village, seizing a Taliban
mobile anti-aircraft gun stored in the local commander?s
mudbrick fort. Sizeable quantities of ammunition for the
large-bore weapon, which had been used in battles with
the Northern Alliance after the 11th of September 2001,
were also seized and consequently destroyed by the
Australians. American B-52 heavy bombers had repeatedly
pounded enemy positions nearby in the proceeding weeks,
with Coalition planners apparently considering the
weapon a threat to such operations, and subsequently
tasking the Australian?s to dispose of it.
The Australians, all heavily armed, continued to search
all the rooms of the fort. Villagers reported to The
Courier Mail (16th of March 2002) that the Australians
had been patrolling through their village at all hours
during Operation ANACONDA and had been living in the
rocky barren hills which lead to the front lines. One
villager, Mohammed Akram was quoted as saying of the
Australians: ??We were quite frightened about what they
were going to do but in the end they did not harm
anybody.??
In the later phases of the Operation ANACONDA Coalition
forces attempted to tighten their grip on al-Qaeda and
Taliban forces, yet hundreds of enemy fighters managed
to escape across the mountains into Pakistan, just as
they did during the battle at Tora Bora earlier in the
year, although perhaps less effectively. With the SASR
occupying blocking positions they came into direct
contact with the enemy, with the Australians engaging
and killing a number of enemy without sustaining
casualties themselves. According to the Australian DoD
at least 10 enemy personnel were known to have been
killed in such clashes with the SASR, whilst more were
believed killed and wounded. Later American scientific
teams were reported by The Courier Mail (16th of March
2002) to have conducted DNA tests on the bodies of those
killed to establish their identity in the search for
enemy leadership. Apparently none were believed to be
senior terrorist figures.
Despite a number of obvious failures in the conduct of
Operation ANACONDA and the extremely harsh environmental
conditions that the Coalition soldiers had to endure,
there is little doubt that substantial casualties were
inflicted upon the enemy both by Coalition ground and
air forces. 8 Americans and 3 allied Afghans were killed
whilst 70 Americans and 18 Afghanis were wounded in the
entire operation, whilst luckily no casualties were
suffered by the Australians. Enemy casualties during
Operation ANACONDA have been difficult to accurately
assess, yet some estimates put the number between
500-800 killed, with many entombed in bombed out cave
complexes. In all Coalition battle damage assessment has
credited the Australian SASR with 312 ?kills?, from both
direct and indirect action, during the operation.
Undoubtedly the majority of these kills relate to the
direction of Coalition air strikes on to enemy
positions.
For outstanding leadership under enemy fire the CSAR
operation launched on the 3rd of March an SASR patrol
commander, Sergeant Matthew Bouillaut was immediately
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). According
to the Australian DoD a number of other Australians will
be decorated for their actions in the Shah-i-Kot, whilst
US military authorities were also said to be considering
a number of awards for Australians involved in ANACONDA.
During the later stages of Operation ANACONDA the
Coalition launched Operation HARPOON which included a
battalion of Canadian infantry from the 3PPLI and an
American company. The force was airlifted into position
on a feature known as the Whale Back, which it
subsequently swept for enemy personnel and then secured.
During the operation a number of enemy personnel were
engaged on the feature and in the entrance to a cave
complex, with many killed. Besides the small Canadian
special forces team employed during ANACONDA, Operation
HARPOON is believed to have been the first combat seen
by Canadian forces since the Korean War (1950-1953)
where they fought alongside the Australians and British
as part of the British Commonwealth Division.
Despite the efforts of the Pakistan government and its
military, the successful retreat of hundreds of Taliban
and al-Qaeda personnel into Pakistan following the
large-scale battles at Tora Bora and in the Shah-i-Kot
illustrate the continuing porous nature of Pakistan?s
border, with that nation now being seen as a haven for
terrorist forces fleeing the Coalition in Afghanistan.
Indeed the northern Pakistani tribal lands, renown for
lawlessness, are now viewed as ostensibly controlled by
al-Qaeda. Consequently it is believed that American
military units and law enforcement organisations, such
as the FBI, have conducted a number of limited covert
operations in Pakistan. According to the Center For
Defense Information, an American defence information
institute, reports have surfaced claiming that
Australian SASR personnel have been involved in such
operations, yet the Australian DoD has to date denied
such involvement, claiming that the SASR is fully
employed in Afghanistan.
The Australian SASR At War In Afghanistan
by Benjamin James Morgan - Brisbane, Australia
August, 2002
Bagram And Operation ANACONDA:
The Australian SFTG subsequently relocated once again,
this time to Bagram Airfield, which had been captured by
Coalition forces in November 2001. The SFTG currently
shares Bagram with more than 5,000 Coalition troops, in
addition to a large number of American and British
combat support and ground attack aircraft including
AH-64D Apache helicopters and A-10 Warthogs. Bagram lies
in a dry dusty plain surround by magnificent snow capped
mountains, yet whilst the view is outstanding the rest
of the base is fairly basic, being a former Soviet
facility. Fortunately for the Australians American
forces have made strenuous efforts to improve the area
for its personnel and those of the Coalition with the
base now provided with such luxuries as showers and
electricity. Bagram and its surrounds have been fought
over numerous times in the last few decades and as a
consequence the area is heavily sown with landmines and
unexploded ordinance, making life hazardous. Luckily
much progress has been made by Coalition and
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel
in clearing mines from the area, yet as with the rest of
Afghanistan much danger remains.
Operation ANACONDA commenced on the 2nd of March 2002
and was the largest Coalition operation of the war up to
this date, seeing the Australian SASR heavily engaged
along side more than 2,000 Coalition troops, including
about 900 Americans from the 10th Mountain Division and
the 101st Airborne, about 1,000 allied Afghan soldiers
and 200 allied special forces from Australia, Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany and Norway. More than 100
Australians from the SASR SFTG were involved, whilst a
small team from the New Zealand SAS were also rumoured
to have taken part in the operation. ANACONDA began
following the location of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in
the Shah-i-Kot valley by Coalition forces which had been
conducting SR tasks in the region after it was suspected
of being used as an enemy operating base. According to
Australian & New Zealand Defender (No 38) elements of
the SASR were involved in locating the enemy forces then
concentrating in the Shah-I-Kot. The subsequent battle
was spread over 70 square miles with significant enemy
forces dug in in the caves and mountains of the area,
with operations further complicated by extreme
environmental conditions including sub-zero temperatures
and difficulties associated with altitude. Indeed much
of fighting took place at altitudes as high as 14,000
feet, with the thin air and lack of oxygen taking its
toll on both the men and machines of the Coalition,
restricting physical movement and preventing many
helicopters from being effectively utilised.
The Coalition plan to attack the enemy located in the
Shah-i-Kot valley called for a several-****ged attack
originating from Gardez, Zurmat and Shah-i-Kot, and
supplemented by allied Afghan forces blocking suspected
escape routes in the far eastern part of the valley,
near Khost and in the south near Paktika. After being
postponed for 48 hours due to bad weather, elements of
the 10th Mountain Division assaulted suspected enemy
positions at Sarkhankhel, Marzk and Babkul in one ****g
of the attack, whilst other units of the 10th Mountain
Division blocked ravine exits at battle positions
farther west. Troops from the 101st Airborne came in
from the northern part of the valley, east of Afghan
commander Ziahuddin?s advance. Allied Afghan forces
under General Ziahuddin, accompanied by USSF, attempted
to enter the Shah-i-Kot valley from the direction of
Zurmat, but the convoy was fiercely attacked, resulting
in the death of an American soldier. Whilst originally
labelled a blocking operation it soon turned into a
reconnaissance in force on what was then found to be a
heavily-defended enemy position, lasting more than 18
hours. On the 3rd of March, American advisers withdrew
closer to Gardez in order to further plan how to counter
the unexpectedly strong resistance. A contingent of 600
allied Afghans was also forced to retreat in the opening
stages of the battle on the 2nd of March after coming
under heavy mortar fire. Other Coalition moves on the
opening day of the operation were similarly afflicted,
nearly resulting in disaster, with a number of
Australians caught up in the haphazard initial phases.
In a rare interview with The Courier Mail (17th of June
2002) two Australian SASR veterans of Operation ANACONDA
told of their experiences during an ill informed
American airmobile company assault on the first day of
the operation, surviving some of the most intense
fighting experienced by Australian soldiers since the
Vietnam War. Under fire from the enemy and trapped in
the open without cover two Australian SASR liaison
officers attached to an US Army company survived by
digging fox holes with their bare hands and combat
knives, to protect themselves and the mounting wounded.
The Courier Mail continued:
??I was lying on my back in my hole looking up and the
tracer fire was criss-crossing like the laser alarm
systems you see in the bank vault of a movie,?? an SASR
officer said...?
?A 45-year-old Perth father-of-two, SASR Warrant Officer
Clint P (we cannot reveal his full name) said he knew he
was in trouble soon after arriving by chopper. As he ran
from the Chinook, the smoke of a rocket-propelled
grenade [RPG] was trailing straight at him. He stopped
and as he instinctively threw up his left arm, he
watched the grenade pass beneath it and hit the ground
about 2m behind him. It didn?t explode.
?The time was 6.45am on Saturday, March 2, 2002 on the
opening day of the Allies?... to herald Operation
Anaconda. ?We hadn?t move 100 metres from the choppers
when we started taking heavy fire from machine guns and
RPGs. It was relentless,? he said in an interview at the
SASRs Perth headquarters.
??There was no cover and 82 people were looking for
some. We didn?t understand what was out there.?
?Warrant Officer P and SASR Signaller Jock W believe if
they had not been evacuated at midnight the entire force
would have been wiped out the next day. I was lying in
my hole watching a B-52 fly over at 20,000 feet with its
bomb doors open and hearing the pilot say ?bombs gone?.
I remember hoping he had got it right and I had more
than 17 seconds to live,? Warrant Officer P said.
The strategy during the opening phase of Operation
ANACONDA had been to block a large concentration of
enemy fighters in the Shah-i-Kot Valley by massing
troops at either end. Yet due to intelligence failures
and the fog of war, unbeknown to the American planners
hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters had anticipated a
Coalition assault on the Shah-I-Kot and had fled into
the mountains nearby. Consequently the enemy came to
control positions within shooting distance of the
landing zone selected for the American company.
The enemy was dug in above the snow line on the eastern
ridge, yet thanks to the high angle of fire no one was
hit during the opening salvos. The only available cover
was a small depression, with a dry creek bed running
through the depression. The two SASR men hit the ground
and began digging in with their bare hands, with mortar
rounds exploding around them. Things got worse when the
SASR soldiers noticed a force of about 26 enemy fighters
on the opposite ridge line. ?We killed some of them but
then started taking fire from that side as well,?
Warrant Officer P was quoted as saying. Air strikes were
subsequently called in but the Apache helicopters were
forced back after taking heavy volumes of fire. B-52
bombers later hammered the enemy positions, yet as
Warrant Officer P continued ?Before the dust had settled
they were out shooting at us again. They were even
waving at us... it was a little disappointing.? By the
end of the afternoon the creek bed had been completely
dug out to protect a large and growing number of
wounded. ?They were packed in like sardines. If a mortar
had landed in there it would have been carnage.?
According to The Courier Mail (17th of June 2002) it now
became clear to the men on the ground that they were
locked in a fight for their survival, yet at the
critical moment much of their technology proved faulty,
with most radios failing, forcing the Americans to
employ runners to pass orders. Late in the afternoon a
large enemy assault commenced, lasting some 25 minutes,
yet it was held at bay. At 1830 local time US Army
Blackhawk helicopters were finally able to begin to
evacuate the wounded. Nearing dusk, AC-130 Spectre
gunships arrived on the scene, dramatically improving
the situation for the embattled company.
The American company and its two SASR Liaison Officers
subsequently endured 12 hours of intense enemy fire,
with 30 Americans wounded before the company was
extracted at 2400. Whilst heavy losses were inflicted on
the enemy this action highlighted a number of tactical
problems, with Coalition intelligence said to have
miscalculated badly in selecting a landing zone on a
flat, open plateau, within range of the enemy who
controlled the high ground. Equally, problems with
aspects of the reliance on American airpower were
apparent. Indeed The Courier Mail (17th of June 2002)
claimed that during the initial phase of Operation
ANACONDA American aircraft dropped just 10 percent of
the bombs allocated to reduce enemy positions prior to
the company assault, whilst those bombs that were
dropped seemingly had little effect. Yet on the other
side of the airpower coin it seems doubtful that the
beleaguered company, and the Australian?s attached to
it, could have survived were it not for the withering
fire from the American AC-130 Spectre gunships, which no
doubt allowed the company to be successfully extracted.
Whilst the planning for Operation ANACONDA was thorough
in most respects, the experience of the American company
and Warrant Officer P and Signaller W on the first day
showed that it was somewhat flawed, especially in the
initial phases. Just a few hours before the company was
inserted they were told that enemy numbers might be
higher than expected, with estimated enemy strength
jumping from 100 to 500 and even then they turned out to
be more. Indeed some estimates assert that as many as
1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters dug in to fight in
the Shah-i-Kot.
Operation ANACONDA was originally supposed to last just
two days, yet it continued until the 14th of March.
During the operation and the subsequent follow up
mission, Operation HARPOON, the Australian SASR were
deployed to a number of observation and blocking
positions around enemy positions whilst American, Afghan
and Canadian light infantry were tasked with flushing
out the enemy in sweep and clear operations.
Whilst tasked with a relatively seemingly non-dramatic
part of the action, as already witnessed, the SASR were
soon in the thick of the fighting, involved directly in
contact with the enemy. Early on the morning of the 4th
of March a troop insertion by two MH-47 Chinook was
foiled, with one helicopter damaged, resulting in a Navy
SEAL falling from the aircraft, at a position over
looked by an Australian covert Observation Post (OP).
Three hours later at 0630 local time, two more
helicopters laden with American troops arrived to
reinforce the point and rescue the missing Navy SEAL,
with one crash landing after being struck by enemy fire.
The Americans were then ambushed by a large enemy force
as they disembarked from the stricken helicopter, taking
heavy casualties. Subsequently Australian SASR troops
took part in a joint operation that saved 36 American
lives from the position at which 7 Americans were killed
and 11 wounded. During the Combat Search and Recovery
(CSAR) operation the Australian patrol manning an
overlooking OP was kept busy calling in airstrikes to
subdue enemy forces and engaging enemy elements with
their small arms as they desperately fought to help save
the encircled Americans. Several American teams
successfully extracted the beleaguered force after
night-fall, twelve hours after the first incident.
SASR personnel continued to play a pivotal part during
the operation conducting covert reconnaissance and
directing airstrikes on to enemy positions, whilst also
directly engaging enemy personnel in combat. As
Operation ANACONDA progressed the Coalition called for
reinforcements, with the interim government in Kabul
rushing in over 1,000 additional allied Afghan fighters
whilst a further 300 American soldiers were also
deployed by the 8th of March, whilst a 500-man battalion
of Canadian infantry from the 3rd Battalion, the
Princess Patricia?s Light Infantry (3PPLI) were also
later inserted. With increased resources and a more
accurate intelligence picture Coalition forces gradually
tightened their grip on the enemy, advancing on enemy
positions which were subsequently reduced by large
scale, and relatively accurate, airstrikes conducted by
the USAF as well as some French aircraft.
According to a report in The Courier Mail (16th of March
2002) Australian SASR operations in the later phase of
Operation ANACONDA included conducting a raid on a
village suspected of harbouring Taliban and al-Qaeda
fighters fleeing Coalition operations in the Shah-i-Kot
Valley. The Australians had been tasked with occupying
blocking positions to cut off the southern escape routes
for enemy fighters bunkered down in the caves and tunnel
systems to the north of the mud brick village of
Oryakhail. Later two Australian LRPVs loaded with SASR
troops swooped on the tiny village, seizing a Taliban
mobile anti-aircraft gun stored in the local commander?s
mudbrick fort. Sizeable quantities of ammunition for the
large-bore weapon, which had been used in battles with
the Northern Alliance after the 11th of September 2001,
were also seized and consequently destroyed by the
Australians. American B-52 heavy bombers had repeatedly
pounded enemy positions nearby in the proceeding weeks,
with Coalition planners apparently considering the
weapon a threat to such operations, and subsequently
tasking the Australian?s to dispose of it.
The Australians, all heavily armed, continued to search
all the rooms of the fort. Villagers reported to The
Courier Mail (16th of March 2002) that the Australians
had been patrolling through their village at all hours
during Operation ANACONDA and had been living in the
rocky barren hills which lead to the front lines. One
villager, Mohammed Akram was quoted as saying of the
Australians: ??We were quite frightened about what they
were going to do but in the end they did not harm
anybody.??
In the later phases of the Operation ANACONDA Coalition
forces attempted to tighten their grip on al-Qaeda and
Taliban forces, yet hundreds of enemy fighters managed
to escape across the mountains into Pakistan, just as
they did during the battle at Tora Bora earlier in the
year, although perhaps less effectively. With the SASR
occupying blocking positions they came into direct
contact with the enemy, with the Australians engaging
and killing a number of enemy without sustaining
casualties themselves. According to the Australian DoD
at least 10 enemy personnel were known to have been
killed in such clashes with the SASR, whilst more were
believed killed and wounded. Later American scientific
teams were reported by The Courier Mail (16th of March
2002) to have conducted DNA tests on the bodies of those
killed to establish their identity in the search for
enemy leadership. Apparently none were believed to be
senior terrorist figures.
Despite a number of obvious failures in the conduct of
Operation ANACONDA and the extremely harsh environmental
conditions that the Coalition soldiers had to endure,
there is little doubt that substantial casualties were
inflicted upon the enemy both by Coalition ground and
air forces. 8 Americans and 3 allied Afghans were killed
whilst 70 Americans and 18 Afghanis were wounded in the
entire operation, whilst luckily no casualties were
suffered by the Australians. Enemy casualties during
Operation ANACONDA have been difficult to accurately
assess, yet some estimates put the number between
500-800 killed, with many entombed in bombed out cave
complexes. In all Coalition battle damage assessment has
credited the Australian SASR with 312 ?kills?, from both
direct and indirect action, during the operation.
Undoubtedly the majority of these kills relate to the
direction of Coalition air strikes on to enemy
positions.
For outstanding leadership under enemy fire the CSAR
operation launched on the 3rd of March an SASR patrol
commander, Sergeant Matthew Bouillaut was immediately
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). According
to the Australian DoD a number of other Australians will
be decorated for their actions in the Shah-i-Kot, whilst
US military authorities were also said to be considering
a number of awards for Australians involved in ANACONDA.
During the later stages of Operation ANACONDA the
Coalition launched Operation HARPOON which included a
battalion of Canadian infantry from the 3PPLI and an
American company. The force was airlifted into position
on a feature known as the Whale Back, which it
subsequently swept for enemy personnel and then secured.
During the operation a number of enemy personnel were
engaged on the feature and in the entrance to a cave
complex, with many killed. Besides the small Canadian
special forces team employed during ANACONDA, Operation
HARPOON is believed to have been the first combat seen
by Canadian forces since the Korean War (1950-1953)
where they fought alongside the Australians and British
as part of the British Commonwealth Division.
Despite the efforts of the Pakistan government and its
military, the successful retreat of hundreds of Taliban
and al-Qaeda personnel into Pakistan following the
large-scale battles at Tora Bora and in the Shah-i-Kot
illustrate the continuing porous nature of Pakistan?s
border, with that nation now being seen as a haven for
terrorist forces fleeing the Coalition in Afghanistan.
Indeed the northern Pakistani tribal lands, renown for
lawlessness, are now viewed as ostensibly controlled by
al-Qaeda. Consequently it is believed that American
military units and law enforcement organisations, such
as the FBI, have conducted a number of limited covert
operations in Pakistan. According to the Center For
Defense Information, an American defence information
institute, reports have surfaced claiming that
Australian SASR personnel have been involved in such
operations, yet the Australian DoD has to date denied
such involvement, claiming that the SASR is fully
employed in Afghanistan.