In the bloodiest and most intense clash of the campaign to oust Al Qaeda from the Afghan highlands, a team of American SEALs was locked in close combat for hours in the mountainous Thakur Ghar area at the entrance to the Shah-i-Kot valley.
The SEAL team was part of a helicopter-borne operation to infiltrate the mountainous area to direct airstrikes and record their results. A series of incidents delayed the men’s nighttime release and forced them to take up new positions with direct visibility of the target village/camp in broad daylight. The team was spotted and a strong insurgent force began to surround the frogmen and their air links, and they soon began to exchange fire.
The US operations center sent a Ranger platoon to reinforce the group, but the MH-47 helicopter carrying them was shot down by DShK heavy machine guns, RPG rockets, and small arms fire. A new MH-47 was hit in the engine and crashed.
A peculiar battle between small groups of special forces and airmen on one side and groups of Afghan insurgents on the other began. Many were cut off and executed, and others preferred to fall off the cliff rather than suffer the same fate. A Ranger team that set out to reinforce the fighters managed to approach the men’s position by continuously marching through the snow under fire, but became stuck in front of an unmarked fort.
It took a long time for the center to coordinate a new air movement into the area, providing air cover and destroying the insurgent strongholds with strikes from F-15s, F-16s, and an armed CIA Predator drone. Seven Americans, members of the Special Forces, Army Air Force, Air Force, and Rangers, were killed in the incident along with about 200 Afghan insurgents.
