Siege of Musa Qala
Siege of Musa Qala | |||||||
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Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Helmand province campaign | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom Denmark Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Canada United States | Taliban | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Battle group: Brig. Ed Butler Garrison: Maj. Nick Wight-Boycott Maj. Lars Ulslev Johannesen Maj. Adam Jowett |
Mullah Abdul Manan Abdul Ghafour | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Garrison: 25-170 (ISAF) 70-80 (ANP) Relief forces: up to 500[2] | N/A | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
7 killed[3] 7 wounded[4] | Roughly 200 confirmed killed |
The siege of
Situation in Musa Qala
Musa Qala ("the fortress of
In 2001, when the
Deployment of ISAF troops
In 2006, the ISAF mandate was expanded to include the restive provinces of southern Afghanistan. Helmand became the responsibility of a primarily British unit, Task Force Helmand. Due to his involvement in the opium trade and links with the insurgency, the British insisted that Governor Akhundzada be removed from his post. His replacement, engineer Mohammad Daoud lacked local support, and as Akhundzada's militias had become inactive, the Taliban hastened to fill the power vacuum, and the situation rapidly deteriorated.[11][12]
On May 18, 2006, insurgents attacked the Afghan National Police (ANP) force in Musa Qala, killing 20 policemen.[13] The British Pathfinder Platoon was deployed to Musa Qala for five days to assist the police before being replaced by an American unit. On June 14, they were ordered to return to Musa Qala. The 25-man Pathfinder Platoon, commanded by Major Nick Wight-Boycott, was primarily a mobile reconnaissance unit, and thus were not best suited for garrison duties. However, the Battle Group's resources were already stretched and there were no other units available.
The Musa Qala district centre was a cluster of low cement and mud buildings surrounded by a 10-foot wall. Situated in the middle of the town, it housed the local police headquarters, a prison and a clinic built by the Americans. The Pathfinders took over a building in the center of the compound and emplaced three
Two weeks after the arrival of the Pathfinders, an American convoy was ambushed in the nearby green zone, and several vehicles were lost. The Americans responded with massive
On July 6, the Pathfinders were scheduled to be replaced by G battery,
The siege
"Most of the fighters weren’t real Taleban. There were some outsiders, but most were local men who were angry with the Government, its robbery and corruption, who were persuaded to fight against the foreigners by our preachers in the mosques." |
Wakil Haji Mohammed Naim, Musa Qala elder[20] |
At one o'clock on July 17, 2006, the British garrison observed several figures approaching the district centre through their
By this time, the Pathfinders had spent six weeks in the field, and they were beginning to show signs of
On July 26, after coalition aircraft dropped six 1,000-pound bombs on known Taliban positions, the relief force finally broke into Musa Qala. There were no casualties, except for a Pathfinder sergeant who was accidentally shot by an ANP guard.[22] A Danish officer, Major Lars Ulslev Johannesen, took over command of the district centre. On July 27, an airstrike mistakenly destroyed the mosque adjoining the base, infuriating the police chief and the town elders. Major Johannesen had to convene a shura and promise that the mosque would be rebuilt at the coalition's expense. When asked whether the inhabitants should evacuate the town, Johannesen answered that they should stay, but over the following days, the population gradually abandoned their homes, leaving the area as a battleground between the Taliban and the ISAF coalition.
Relief of the Pathfinders
Operation Nakhod
The long-overdue evacuation of the Pathfinders remained a priority for the British. The first attempt, code-named Operation Nakhod, was made on August 1, but ended in failure. The relief force, consisting of a patrol of D Squadron, Household Cavalry Regiment, was ambushed on the outskirts of the town. A Spartan APC was destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing the patrol commander, Captain Alex Eida, and two soldiers, Second Lieutenant Ralph Johnson and Lance-Corporal Ross Nicholls. A Scimitar scout vehicle that came to their rescue was destroyed by multiple RPG hits, forcing its crew to bail out. The crew's commander, Corporal Mick Flynn, took charge of the survivors, and gave covering fire to Lance-Corporal Andrew Radford as he rescued an injured colleague.[3] For their actions, they were later respectively awarded the Military Cross and the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. A company of British paratroops was later airlifted to the area to recover the bodies and destroy any sensitive equipment.[23] The British drew several lessons from the failure of Operation Nakhod. The Household Cavalry, operating in their traditional role of long-distance armoured reconnaissance units, were commanded by the brigade headquarters in Kandahar, whose lack of situational awareness and vague orders had contributed to the setback. As a result, they were transferred to the battle group, and the idea of employing armoured units without infantry support in built-up areas was abandoned.[24] The failed operation also demonstrated that the Taliban firmly controlled the area surrounding Musa Qala, and that nothing short of a full battle group operation could relieve the garrison.
Operation Snakebite
In response to an obvious shortage of manpower, two platoons and a mortar section from the Royal Irish Regiment were deployed to Afghanistan, almost all volunteers. The Somme Platoon and the mortar troop were due to replace the Pathfinders.
The operation, codenamed Mar Chichel (Snakebite in
Siege renewed
After Mar Chichel, Taliban attacks resumed, using every weapon in their arsenal, including machine guns, RPGs, mortars and Chinese-made 107 mm
On August 12, Major Johannesen announced to the garrison that they would be evacuating their exposed position, much to the soldiers' relief. British General
After four weeks presence, the Griffins were withdrawn from Musa Qala. They were replaced by the
The departure of the Griffins led to a weakening of the base's defenses, as Easy Company now had only two .50 cal machine guns and nine
By that time, the Taliban frontal attacks had failed with heavy loss, and their supply lines were being interdicted by D squadron, Household Cavalry Regiment, who operated in mobile operations groups in the desert. For a time, the insurgents were forced to resort to long-distance strikes with mortars and rockets. On September 1, one such mortar attack killed Ranger Anare Draiva, and mortally wounded Corporal Paul Muirhead of the Royal Irish Regiment.[30]
On September 2, six more British troops were injured, and three days later, the Taliban once again tried to storm the base, but were repelled by the defenders with air support from Harriers and A-10s.
The Musa Qala agreement
"[...]professionally, personally and morally I could not keep my troops in such constant danger without a viable casevac system." |
Brigadier Ed Butler[33] |
Despite waging an effective defense, Easy Company's situation continued to deteriorate. During a period of 40 days, they had repelled over 100 attacks,[33] but only six resupply flights were flown in during their stay, and they soon began to run low on ammunition. By September 8, the mortar team was down to thirty 81 mm rounds, and when the Minimi gunners ran out of link ammunition for their weapons, they were forced to spend long hours filling used belts with 5.56 mm rounds left over by the Danes.
Meanwhile, debate continued within the British command. Battle Group leader Brigadier
Eventually, the quandary was solved by the inhabitants of Musa Qala themselves, who wished to end the hardships caused by the siege. Much of the town centre had been destroyed in the fighting, and most of the population had fled to nearby villages, preventing them from trading, collecting their crops, or sending their children to school. On August 26, a woman and her child were killed in the bazaar during a firefight. The town's elders blamed the Taliban and the coalition equally for their suffering. First they turned to the insurgents, and tried to persuade them that only negotiations could break the deadlock. The Taliban, who had suffered heavily in their unsuccessful attempts to capture the district centre, readily agreed. The elders then exposed their proposition to Governor Daoud, who passed it on to Brigadier Butler on September 12. The brigadier, after receiving confirmation that the insurgents were ready to accept the deal, ordered a
The following day, a delegation of 60 elders visited the district centre in order to discuss the situation with Major Adam Jowett. The visit convinced Jowett that their plan was serious, and in the afternoon, a shura took place in the desert west of Musa Qala. The British were represented by Brigadier Butler, and by a
At first, Easy Company did not have much confidence in the truce, and they continued to strengthen their defenses, but Musa Qala remained peaceful, allowing the inhabitants to return to their normal activities. A 14-point plan drawn up by Governor Daoud for handing over Musa Qala to the elders was gradually implemented. According to this plan, the Flag of Afghanistan would continue to fly over the district centre, while the elders would select 60 members of their families to form a local police force, and they would permit reconstruction and development projects to continue.[37][38]
The extraction of Easy company from Musa Qala took place on October 13, by which time the Helmand Task Force had been taken over by
Reactions and aftermath
The ceasefire agreement drew significant criticism, not only in Afghanistan, but also among the ISAF leadership, where it was sometimes viewed as a major concession to the insurgency.
The volatile situation of Helmand province, compounding foreign intervention,
See also
References
Bibliography
- Bishop, Patrick (2007). 3 Para. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-725778-2.
- Fergusson, James (2008). A Million Bullets: The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0-593-05903-6.
- Giustozzi, Antonio (2007). Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan. London: Hurst. ISBN 978-1-85065-873-3.
- Southby-Tailyour, Ewen (2008). 3 Commando Brigade, Helmand, Afghanistan. London: Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192695-3.
- Jowett, Adam (2018). No Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege. London: Pan Books. ISBN 978-1-50-986473-7.
Footnotes
- ^ )
- ^ a b "UK troops reinforce Afghan town". BBC. 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
- ^ a b c d e f Reynolds, D.J. (2007-08-12). "Pure hell of the siege of Musa Qala". The Times. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ Lund, Michael (2007-10-07). "Danskere i krig: 35 dage i lortehullet" (in Danish). Avisen. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ Loyd, Anthony (2008-07-15). "Bungs and bungling in Musa Qala: British dreams of building utopia crumble". The Times. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Coghlan, Tom; Burleigh, James (2007-12-12). "Battle for Taliban stronghold intensifies". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ Abrashi, Fisnik (2007-12-15). "Troops Patrol Former Taliban Town". Fox News. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ a b c Donnelly, Thomas; Shmitt, Gary (2008). "Musa Qala: Adapting to the Realities of Modern Counterinsurgency" (PDF). Small Wars Journal. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ a b c Burke, Jason (2007-02-04). "Taliban town seizure throws Afghan policy into disarray". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ Giustozzi, p.60
- ^ Dayee, Mohammad Ilyas; MacKenzie, Jean; Gardesh Hafizullah (2008-02-26). "Helmand Ex-Governor Joins Karzai Blame Game". IWPR. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ Giustozzi, p.63
- ^ Bishop, p.52
- ^ Bishop, p.153
- ^ Bishop, p.154
- ^ Bishop, p.158
- ^ Bishop, p.53 and p.158
- ^ Bishop, p.156
- ^ Bishop, p.159
- ^ Loyn, Anthony; Luddin, Tahir (2006-10-30). "After the fighting and dying, the Taleban return as British depart". The Times. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- ^ Bishop, p.162
- ^ a b Bishop, p.164
- ^ Bishop, p.166
- ^ Fergusson, p.244-245
- ^ a b Albone, Tim (2006-09-27). "Pathfinders on a four-day mission fight off eight-week Taleban siege". The Times. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ "Soldier killed by friendly fire". BBC. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ Bishop, p. 229
- ^ Bishop, p. 235
- ^ Bishop, p. 238
- ^ Bishop, pp. 243–244
- ^ Bishop, p. 251
- ^ Bishop, p. 250
- ^ a b Bishop, p.254
- ^ Bishop, p.255
- ^ Bishop, p.257
- ^ Bishop, p.259
- ^ Bishop, p.260
- ^ a b c Gall, Carlotta; Wafa, Abdul Waheed (2006-11-29). "Taliban Truce in District of Afghanistan Sets Off Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ Southby-Tailyour, p. 60
- ^ Southby-Tailyour, p. 61
- ^ Constable, Pamela (2006-11-20). "In Afghanistan's South, Mixed Signals for Help". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ Fergusson, p.268
- ^ Whitaker, Raymond (2006-10-26). "Troops 'locked down' by suicide bombers". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ Bishop; p. 267
External links
- Isby, David (July 2008). "The High Stakes Battle for the Future of Musa Qala" (PDF). West Point). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
- "The battle for Musa Qala". Jane's. 2008-04-04. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- Loyd, Anthony; Luddin, Tahir (2006-10-30). "After the fighting and dying, the Taleban return as British depart". The Times. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- Smith, Michael (2006-10-01). "British troops in secret truce with the Taliban". The Times. Retrieved 2009-01-02.