Battle of Kandahar (2011)

Battle of Kandahar (2011)

Battle of Kandahar
Part of Afghanistan War
Date May 7–9, 2011 Location Kandahar, Afghanistan Result Afghan Victory Taliban siege of Kandahar city Afghan police fend off Taliban attack; secure city
Belligerents
Afghan National Police	Taliban
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown, captured
Strength
80+	40–100
Casualties and losses
6 killed in assault, 4 wounded 6 killed in separate assault* 2 Afghan Security Forces killed	25 killed 7 captured
*May have been part of the battle due to how close it was. Also, 4 civilians were killed and 50 wounded.

The Battle of Kandahar was an attack by Taliban forces on May 7, 2011, in the city of Kandahar. The battle was part of the . The battle was the biggest Taliban offensive of 2011, marking over 40 total deaths and over 50 total wounded. The fighting demonstrated that, despite heavy losses since 2001, the Taliban forces remain a threat to coalition and Afghan forces, and show that morale in insurgent groups have not died since the death of Bin Laden.

Background

Kandahar was known to have high insurgent levels. To push them out of Kandahar, in 2010 NATO and the US began a year-long campaign to push the Taliban and al-Qaeda out of Kandahar. Though a success, Kandahar still has insurgents in the city, though less than before.

Battle

Early in the morning, 40–60 (Taliban claim 100) militants used rocket-propelled grenades, guns and other weapons to attack the governor's office from nearby buildings. The Taliban then proceeded and attacked many more places, including outposts, police buildings and local offices. In most of the attacks, suicide bombers were used, though militants armed with guns also took part in the attack. In the suicide bombings, 4 civilians were killed and 50 wounded.

Though fighting died down overnight, militants continued to attack throughout Sunday in a couple of abandoned buildings. The first casualty reports were released Sunday. AFP reported that there were 12 insurgents killed and seven captured, but AP quoted that Interior Ministry spokesman saying 23 attackers were killed, including eight that had suicide vests on. The battle continued for two days before Afghan police confirmed that most, or all, Taliban forces are out of Kandahar.

On Sunday, Afghan police forced a little over two dozen Taliban militants back into a hotel, where Afghan police opened fire from rooftops. They killed over 20 until it came down to the last two. One of them was killed by gunfire, while the other one, wearing a suicide vest, blew himself up in the building, refusing to surrender. The Afghan Police and Security Forces effectively ended a majority of the battle. But, there continues to be minor amounts of Taliban inside the city.

Aftermath

The first casualty reports were released Saturday. AFP reported that there were 12 insurgents killed and seven captured, but AP quoted that Interior Ministry spokesman saying 23 attackers were killed, including eight that had suicide vests on. However, a release Sunday said that 25 militants were killed, six police officers and two Afghan Security Forces. Six police officers were killed and 4 wounded in the attack, and another 6 were killed in a separate attack in which police hit a roadside bomb and then were attacked by gunfire afterwards. In the Aftermath, a report by BBC said that civilians were too scared to go in or out of Kandahar. Two Afghan Security forces were killed.

At first, the attacks were believed to have been done in revenge of the Osama Bin Laden killing, though Taliban spokesperson Qari Yousuf Ahmadi denied this claim, saying: "A number of fighters are in several locations around the city. These are not retaliatory attacks for the death of Osama bin Laden but are part of our spring offensive,"

References

Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kandahar_(2011)