In the cold darkness of early morning 2 March 2002, Coalition Task Force-Mountain launched its combat forces into the Shah-E-Kot Valley in Eastern Afghanistan to initiate Operation Anaconda. The US-led Coalition Joint Task Force Mountain, composed of Afghan, American and coalition special operations forces, and conventional troops, assaulted a large pocket of Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists that had taken refuge in the valleys, villages and caves. In the longest battle since the Vietnam War, Operation Anaconda destroyed organized Taliban and Al-Qaeda resistance in the valley and caused enemy cells ouside the area to flee. |