Shahi-Kot Valley

A valley located in Afghanistan's Paktia province, southeast of the town of Zormat. The terrain in and around the valley is notoriously rugged, located at a mean altitude of 9,000 feet. Shahi-Kot means "Place of the King" and it has historically been a redoubt for Afghan guerillas hiding from foreign invaders. The area was the scene of fierce fighting between the Afghan mujahedeen rebels and Soviet forces during the Afghan-Soviet War.

It was also the scene of the largest battle of the U.S-Afghan War to date. 1,700 U.S troops and 1,000 pro-government Afghan militia battled over 1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters who had regrouped in the area following the fall of the Taliban regime in November. Al-Qaeda fighters, many of whom were foreigners, entrenched themselves in spider holes in the valley and battled U.S forces attempting to secure the area with mortars and heavy machine guns. Taliban commander Maulavi Saifur Rehman Mansoor subsequently lead Taliban reinforcements to join the battle.

The battle began on March 1. U.S forces initially underestimated the strenghth of the rebels, and 86 U.S soldiers with C Company, 1st Battalion, 82nd regiment, were pinned down by heavy al-Qaeda mortar fire at a site codenamed Objective Ginger. 28 of the men were wounded, and the company was evacuated overnight. A helicopter bearing special operations troops east of Objective Ginger was also struck by enemy fighter, resulting in the death of one U.S soldier. The helicopter of a rescue/recovery team sent to find the soldier was subsequently brought down and the crew pinned down by heavy fire, resulting in the deaths of six more U.S soldiers.

Following the deadly firefights, U.S forces pulled back and heavily bombarded guerilla positions in the valley. Following the bombing, a joint U.S/Afghan forces swept through the valley and cleared it of remaining rebel forces, with little significant combat. A total of 9 U.S soldiers were killed, along with several Afghan militiamen. Estimated of al-Qaeda and Taliban dead range between 50 and 500.