Battle of Panjwaii
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| Battle of Panjwaii | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Canada, Afghanistan Netherlands United States |
Taliban insurgents | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Brig. Gen. David Fraser, Lieut.-Col. Omer Lavoie |
Local Taliban commanders | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2,000 | 800-1,500 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Canada: 16 killed, 50+ wounded U.S.: 2 killed | NATO estimates up to/over 1,000 killed | ||||||
The Battle of Panjwaii was a battle fought during two periods in the summer of 2006, primarily involving Canadian and Afghan soldiers being supported with some small elements of the Dutch, American, and British forces. There were two separate times in which the forces were involved in heavy fighting in the region. The first phase was fought in July 2006, and the second encounter lasted from September to October 2006.
Spring Fighting
Prior to the summer upsurge of violence and fighting, there were limited contacts in the Panjwaii district. On May 17 there were a number of battles between Canadian soldiers and Taliban fighters. One of the contacts claimed the life of Captain Nichola Goddard, Canada's first female combat arms casualty. In another contact on the same day, Sergeant Michael Thomas Victor Denine's acts of heroism resulted in him being later awarded the Medal of Military Valour.
The First Battle of Panjwaii. Operation Zahara
In mid July 2006, Canadian and Afghan forces involved in Operation Mountain Thrust came into the Panjwaii area to help clear the area of Taliban strongholds. On July 12 heavy fighting broke out in the mud wall complexes where Taliban forces decided to dig in and fight for control of this area of Panjwaii. Canadian and Afghan forces on the offensive quickly gained control of the battlefield while heavy fighting was still ongoing.
During this time, Canadian forces were called upon to help relieve a group of British soldiers who had dropped in a re-supply off target landing the supplies with the Taliban and were being pinned by the militants in a fierce firefight. Due to the distance the British were from the Canadian forces at the time, it slowed the process of Canadian operations in the area of the Panjwaii region. After many days of heavy fighting that saw a Canadian soldier killed in action, the area was effectively cleared of Taliban militants operating in large, organized groups.
The Second Battle of Panjwaii: Operation Medusa
After the fighting in July, Canadian and Afghan forces left the Panjwaii region and it once again became a Taliban stronghold and a thorn in the side of Canadian forces in Kandahar province when the Taliban consequently poured back into the deserted district. The beginning of September saw the beginning of much more intense fighting in the Panjwaii region again. And once again it was Canadians spearheading the Operation. Canadian forces on the first day strategically surrounded the Taliban and called in heavy artillery and air strikes while taking no casualties themselves. On the second day Canadians took a big loss though. Four soldiers were killed in two attacks. Three were killed while assaulting a Taliban position and one was killed in a bomb attack. The day after was another deadly day, a Canadian soldier was killed and more than thirty others were wounded when an American A-10 accidentally strafed Canadian troops who had called in air support while fighting the Taliban. For the next few weeks there was more heavy fighting on a daily basis and the Taliban who had begun fighting the battle in a conventional way of trenches started to retreat from the battlefield. Canadian forces then faced sporadic resistance until the Panjwaii was finally taken under Canadian control. But casualties did not stop there. Reconstruction efforts began immediately and small cells of Taliban fighters returned to their deadly tactics of suicide and roadside bombings.
"The Road to Panjwaii"
After major combat operations of Operation Medusa had ceased, the reconstruction efforts began. One project in particular has become a deadly and dangerous effort to help the local economy grow. Canadian Forces began the construction of a road, code-named "Summit", from the Panjwaii area to outlying areas including Kandahar city. The purpose of this road was to help the local economy grow by making access to the region much easier. Roadside bombs, booby traps and ambushes targeting engineers who were building the road cost the lives of six Canadians. On October 3rd, Sgt. Craig Gillam and Cpl. Robert Mitchell were killed when the Taliban ambushed an Observation Post which had been set up in the area. Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have said that the quick thinking of Sgt. Gillam helped save the lives of numerous more Canadians during the attack. On November 21st, two Canadian soldiers were injured, one very seriously, when an anti-personnel mine was triggered. The most seriously wounded soldier was airlifted to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany with wounds to his lower body that were classed as very serious, but not life threatening. It is unclear as to whether or not the mine was a newly planted one, or an older mine that had been surfaced to recent heavy rain.
Civilian toll
The Battle of Panjwaii was very light on the side of civilian casualties. Many of the civilians left the area before Canadian and Afghan troops moved in.[citation needed] The fighting during Operation Medusa was more conventional (e.g. trenches and "spider holes") than most combat in Afghanistan, and civilians were evacuated out of the combat zones for the most part. This did not stop the Taliban from using houses belonging to civilian populations for cover, resulting in the destruction of several homes. [citation needed] In late October, a British unit operating in the area called in an airstrike on a confirmed Taliban gathering and NATO jets attacked. The bombs killed more than sixty people, most of which the Taliban fighters claimed were civilians intentionally targeted by NATO. This claim was disputed by NATO commanders in Afghanistan who after a short investigation of the site came to their own conclusion that the majority of those killed were, in fact, Taliban fighters. NATO did however confirm that a large number of civilians were killed in the attack and quickly made a public apology for the deaths. [citation needed]
Post Medusa Panjwaii
After the fighting of Operation Medusa came to an end, the Taliban were no longer in the district in any large numbers, but attacks were still occurring fairly regularly against the Canadian Forces. Mortar and bomb attacks as well as some gun battles were a stark reminder that the Taliban, although no longer massed, were still a real threat. Bomb attacks in November have claimed the lives of two more Canadian, and one American soldier in the area. On December 2nd, a squadron of Canadian Leopard C2 tanks which were deployed from Canada as reinforcements during the Operation Medusa fighting made their way from the Kandahar Airfield to a Canadian Forward Operating Base in the Panjwaii district. The Canadian tanks are the heaviest piece of equipment both in weight, and firepower that have been seen in the Panjwaii district since the Soviet fighting during the 1980s. The day after being deployed to the forward operating base, the first shots from a Canadian tank in a combat zone since the Korean War were fired. Taliban fighters attacked the Canadian base with rockets and quickly had cannon fire from the Leopard tanks being directed at them.
Operation Falcon Summit
Operation Falcon Summit was launched on December 15 when British, Canadian, Danish, and Estonian troops began massing in the Panjwaii district the morning after NATO airstrikes hit a Taliban command post. The operation is aimed to keep up the momentum that was gathered during Operation Medusa in September.
The first operation related casualty was a Canadian soldier who while en route to a meeting with tribal elders to discuss reconstruction that would be happening during and after the operation, stepped on a landmine. The soldier, Private Frederic Couture of the Royal 22e Régiment (the "Vandoos") suffered severe but not life-threatening injuries from the blast. The landmine had been planted the night before, by Taliban troops that were shot and killed by Canadian soldiers who then attempted to clear away all the landmines in the area.
On December 19, the Canadian forces in the area began a massive artillery and tank barrage on Taliban positions in the area of operations. Backed by heavy machinegun fire, the Canadian Leopard tanks and M777 howitzers assaulted the positions for forty-five minutes before the barrage ended and Canadian ground forces advanced and secured a perimeter around the town of Howz-e Madad without firing a single shot.
References
- 72 Taliban killed in Canadian-set military trap - National Post (August 21, 2006)
- NATO offensive against Taliban begins west of Kandahar CBCnews(September 2, 2006)
- Canadian troops make progress in Panjwaii battle www.ctv.ca (September 11, 2006)
- Cdn tanks fire in battle for 1st time in 50 years www.ctv.ca (December 3, 2006)
