- Sgt Mag1
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- Fabled Mythic Member
This is all fact:
I'll start off with Operation Jawbreaker. This op is not the official name, as the real name is, well, I don't know the official name. Anyway the op, conducted by the CIA SAD (Special Activities Division), and other tier one operatives, just weeks after 9/11.
About 3-4 weeks after 9/11, the CIA and other tier ones went into Afghanistan to, "hit them back", if you will. (Very similar with Doolittles Raid, in terms of revenge)The plan was to oust the Taliban, and kill/capture Bin Laden.
They started in Kabul, hitting it with airstrikes. They also attacked Kandahar, as the then home of Mullah Omar was located there. They started targeting known Taliban training sites, and searching for others, as well as AQ sites.
Apache helicopters also targeted Taliban and AQ anti air defenses, quickly wiping them out. It should also be said that the helicopters from the 101st Aviation Brigade of the 101st Airborne suffered no losses during this.
Now we get into to well known stuff. First with the battle of Mazar-i-sharif, a location with an airport and a direct route to Uzbekistan. SAD and SF forces, along with Northern Alliances soldiers entered the town on horseback and a fierce 90 minute gun battle took place. After the 90 minutes, the Taliban quickly left the city, and Mazar-i-sharif was in NA hands since 1998. The U.S then sent in 1,000 troops from the 10th Mountain to reinforce the city.
The battle of qala-i-jangi was a prison revolt that was started when Taliban prisoners turned on their Northern Alliance guards and then started opening fire on others. In total, 300 prisoners revolted and killing 50 NA guards and one CIA officer, Micheal Spann. Spann marked the first US killed in Afghan. After 7 days of fighting between the prisoners, US Special Forces, the British Special Boat Service, and an AC-130 gunship, the prisoners finally surrendered. Only 86 prisoners survived and this ended combat in Northern Afghan as the NA were now in control.
Perhaps the most famous battle of Jawbreaker, is the battle of Tora Bora. Tora Bora, a mountainous region, is where AQ had their last strong hold out. 20 SAD officers, and 70 Special Forces operators from Delta, DEVGRU and 24th STS, attacked this complex. The Northern Alliance, other US Special Forces, and UK Special forces handled the reinforcement role and also called in the majority of the airstrikes. What makes this battle famous is that we knew exactly where Bin Laden was, at this point. Because of our over reliance on Afghan fighters, Pakistan patrolling their borders and NATO and USCENTCOM denying requests, Bin Laden was able to escape into Pakistan.