Operation Valiant Strike

Operation Valiant Strike was a major United States military ground operation in Afghanistan announced on 19 March 2003 that involved 2nd and 3rd battalions of 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,[1] Romanian and Afghan troops. For eight days [2]the combined forces moved through Kandahar and parts of Southern Afghanistan with the objective of eliminating enemy forces and weapons caches while also attempting to gather intelligence on Taliban activity in the area.[3]

On 20 March 2003, some 800 American troops, assisted by Romanian and Afghan troops, moved into the Sami Ghar area east of Kandahar.[2] A platoon of the 82nd Airborne 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment landed in the mountain range and began the search for al-Qaeda fighters and weapons with overhead support from A-10 Thunderbolts during the offensive movement.[2] The coalition forces failed to locate any terrorists but found three large weapon caches.[2]

At the conclusion of the operation on 24 March 2003, coalition forces had detained 13 suspected Taliban fighters and confiscated more than 170 rocket-propelled grenades, 180 land mines, 20 automatic rifles and machine guns, as well as many rockets, rifles, and launchers.[3]

References
  1. Spc. Marie Schult. "Operation Valiant Strike" (PDF). ASUSA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  2. Ludwig, Adam (2011). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Scarecrow Press. p. 348. ISBN 978-0810878150.
  3. Associated Press. "Troops Rush Afghanistan in Taliban hunt". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 12 April 2014.


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