Be safe

Unfortunately, this time there won't be many pictures (around 20 in total, from this relating to gore). TL;DR The 'formal' core of this story are the murders of the three Afghani civilians in the Maywand District (January-May 2010) and the vast collection of photographs - also a few videos - that soldiers have been sharing among them. Previously, one soldier was trying to report the violations. The investigation started after another one had reported drug use in the platoon. He ended up assaulted, and the 'leader' of this 'Kill Team' was intimidating him with human fingers. The media outrage, peaking in 2011, was fuelled by the testimonies detailing the entertainment. It was ranging from the use of drugs and boasting about killing just for fun through collecting the 'trophies' from the victims to staging an attack (so it formally would be a self-defence). Out of 12 soldiers charged, 11 were convicted, and 5 of them - in connection to the murders.

Sections go as follows:

1. Timeline and early reports, before we had pictures. Timeline here, with both some incidents and the more important media coverage articles.

2. Photos release and media outrage. Here are the photos with descriptions (and some comments, e.g. on their number).

3. Videos, for now only their descriptions. There were 2 clips released in the media. Unfortunately, they are not archived correctly.

4. The trials and convictions. A lot to read there, as some of the soldiers were more interesting than you can see on any photos. Depending on your attitude, it's either shocking, sad or enjoyable. Or all of the above, in various combination

5. Bonus torture vid, published in the 2013. It's unrelated to the case, but related to the US soldiers, to the Afghans and - as the above pictures - also leaked by the Rolling Stone.

⠀TIMELINE AND EARLY REPORTS

The soldiers in the 'Kill Team', as some of them called it themselves, were stationed in Base Ramrod in Maiwand District (current name: FOB Sarkari Karez), around 80 km (50 mil) west from Kandahar. They were a part of 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

15th of January 2010 - the first murder. Gul Mudin, around a 15 yo boy, was killed while unarmed, and the circumstances staged to look like a combat situation.

22nd of February 2010 - the second murder. One soldier was carrying an old Kalashnikov, and fired it before pulling out another gun, shooting 22 yo Marach Agha.

2nd of May 2010 - the third murder, in which Mullah Allah Dad (45 yo) died after a staged hand grenade attack.

6th of May 2010 - Justin Stoner gets assaulted for reporting the soldiers smoking hashish on regular (the next day, he's brought from Ramrod to Kandahar, and questioned). Here's the exam photo:

17th of June 2010 - news was released about the 5 soldiers charged with murder of the three Afghans.

27th of September 2010 - the legal process begins, and it is already known that the soldiers were photographing their deeds. The Army had hoped that there won't be any drama before the trials.

30th of November 2010 - the second court-martial was ordered. Photographs are mentioned again.

21st of March 2011 - 'Der Spiegel' publishes the three photos. They've later claimed, in another article, that their staff had obtained around 4,000. It's not known how they have managed to access it.

28th of March 2011 - 'Rolling Stone' publishes 17 more photos (including these already known, but this time not censored), out of the 150 they've obtained. There were no specific mention of the type of these photos - how many were relatable to the trials, how many were graphic, how many were just the everyday scenes etc.

Here's the 9-mins-long video uploaded in September 2010 (first part of a longer program). Its main part is an interview with Hal Bernton, reporter for The Seattle Times. It just summarizes what was known back then.

Here, a second part of this program. This part is more speculative (including the drug use) and less relating to the news; mostly, it's on US Army problems, drugs, and whether both prescriptions and illegal drugs could contribute to this.

⠀PHOTOS RELEASE AND MEDIA OUTRAGE

At least for now, I don't know how many photographs are there in general. Differently than with the Abu Ghraib case (which I covered in WPD post, too!), there is not much to browse, as even the published photographs are very limited. Ongoing trials and controversy were reported by the well-known news agencies. There are also two movies - 2013 documentary and 2019 drama. Still, the media coverage and interest in the case was reportedly clearly lower than in Abu Ghraib case.

According to a Pentagon spokeswoman, who was inquiried by 'The Spiegel' staff, explanation for keeping the collections secret was: 'Some of these photographs are of a difficult nature'. The other reasons given were, quoting The Wired:

A colonel at Lewis-McChord, Barry F. Huggins, has ordered that images of "casualties or detainees" that might be used as evidence in the case can't be publicly disclosed. [...] Release of the images would likely inflame Afghans and put U.S. troops in danger, Huggins wrote in a memorandum last week: "The risk of potential prejudice to the substantive rights of the accused, as well as negative impact on the reputation of the armed forces, associated with the potential public dissemination of these images outweighs minimal hardship upon the accused as a result of this order."

The mention of detainees suggests they may have been abuse ongoing in the custody. I don't know for now if that was the case, and if this is photographed, if so.

Among the soldiers, the collection was treated like a war memento. It was passed from man to man on thumb drives and hard drives, the gruesome images of corpses and war atrocities filed alongside clips of TV shows, UFC fights and films such as Iron Man 2. One soldier kept a complete set, which he made available to anyone who asked.

Here are the 17 photos released by the 'Rolling Stone', with the quotes below them being the original comments.

1 to 10.

On January 15th, 2010, U.S. soldiers in Bravo Company stationed near Kandahar executed an unarmed Afghan boy named Gul Mudin in the village of La Mohammad Kalay. Reports by soldiers at the scene indicate that Mudin was about 15 years old. According to sworn statements, two soldiers – Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes – staged the killing to make it look like they had been under attack. Ordering the boy to stand still, they crouched behind a mud wall, tossed a grenade at him and opened fire from close range. This photograph shows Mudin’s body lying by the wall where he was killed.

Following the routine Army procedure required after every battlefield death, the soldiers cut off the dead boy’s clothes and stripped him naked to check for identifying tattoos. Here they are shown scanning his iris and fingerprints, using a portable biometric scanner.

In a break with protocol, the soldiers also took photographs of themselves celebrating their kill. In the photos, Morlock grins and gives a thumbs-up sign as he poses with Mudin’s body. Note that the boy’s right pinky finger appears to have been severed. Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs reportedly used a pair of razor-sharp medic’s shears to cut off the finger, which he presented to Holmes as a trophy for killing his first Afghan.

Holmes poses with Mudin’s body. According to a fellow soldier, Holmes took to carrying Mudin’s severed finger with him in a zip-lock bag. “He wanted to keep the finger forever and wanted to dry it out,” one of his friends would later report. “He was proud of his finger.”

Prior to the murder of Mudin, in November 2009, the soldiers of Bravo Company were dispatched to recover the body of an insurgent who was killed by rockets from a helicopter gunship. As they collected the remains, which appear to be those shown here, one took out a hunting knife and stabbed the corpse. Staff Sgt. Gibbs, who had recently joined the platoon as a squad leader, began playing with a pair of scissors near the dead man’s hands. “I wonder if these can cut off a finger?” Gibbs asked.

A pistol found at the scene of the helicopter strike. Gibbs routinely collected such weapons and planted them on the bodies of unarmed civilians they killed, in order to frame their victim as enemy combatants. The presence of a “drop weapon” virtually guaranteed that a shooting would be considered a legitimate kill.

Cpl. Jeremy Morlock with the pistol found at the scene. Gibbs was reportedly disappointed that the pistol was turned into military authorities in accordance with proper protocol, preventing them from using it as a “drop weapon.”

Before the military found itself short of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, Morlock was the kind of bad-news kid who the Army might have passed on. He grew up not far from Sarah Palin in Wasilla, Alaska; his sister hung out with Bristol, and Morlock played hockey against Track. Back in those days, it seemed like he was constantly in trouble: getting drunk and into fights, driving without a license, leaving the scene of a serious car accident.

Even after he joined the Army, Morlock continued to get into trouble. In 2009, a month before he deployed to Afghanistan, he was charged with disorderly conduct after burning his wife with a cigarette. After he arrived in Afghanistan, he did any drug he could get his hands on: opium, hash, Ambien, amitriptyline, flexeril, phenergan, codeine, trazodone.

Morlock posing with an Afghan child. The photos collected by soldiers included many shots of local children, often filed alongside images of bloody casualties. At one point, soldiers in 3rd Platoon talked about throwing candy out of a Stryker vehicle as they drove through a village and shooting the children who came running to pick up the sweets.

11 to 17.

Another photo of Afghan children. According to one soldier, members of 3rd Platoon also talked about a scenario in which they “would throw candy out in front and in the rear of the Stryker; the Stryker would then run the children over.”

Staff Sgt. Gibbs in the back of a Stryker vehicle, a pair of scissors visible in the top pocket of his uniform. Gibbs allegedly used a pair of medic’s shears to cut off the finger of at least two Afghan civilians murdered by members of his platoon.

An unidentified soldier next to the wreckage of an Afghan National Police truck that had been blown up near the base’s gate. Inside the truck, Staff Sgt. Gibbs found a working AK-47 with a folding butt stock and two magazines. According to witnesses, Gibbs placed the AK-47 and the magazines in a metal box in one of the Strykers and later used them as “drop weapons” to frame two unarmed civilians the platoon killed as enemy combatants.

In the process of suppressing the photographs, the Army may also have been trying to keep secret evidence that the killings of civilians went beyond a few men in 3rd Platoon. In this image, the bodies of two Afghan men have been tied together, their hands bound, and placed alongside a road.

A sign – handwritten on cardboard fashioned from a discarded box of rations – hangs around the dead men’s necks. It reads: TALIBAN ARE DEAD. According to a source in Bravo Company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the men were killed by soldiers from another platoon, which has not yet been implicated in the scandal. “Those were some innocent farmers that got killed,” the source says. “Their standard operating procedure after killing dudes was to drag them up to the side of the highway.”

The collection of photos includes several dozen images of unidentified casualties, including this one of a severed head. In many of the photos it is unclear whether the bodies are civilians or Taliban. It is possible that the unidentified deaths are unrelated to 3rd Platoon, and involved no illegal acts by U.S. soldiers. But taking such photos, let alone sharing them with others, is a clear violation of Army standards.

An unidentified image of severed legs passed around among the members of Bravo Company. Even if such unidentified bodies were enemy combatants rather than innocent civilians, their inclusion in the collection of photos bespeaks a shocking disregard for human life. “We were operating in such bad places and not being able to do anything about it,” Morlock tells Rolling Stone. “I guess that’s why we started taking things into our own hands.”

Below, photo from the Rolling Stone, released before the gory ones. It shows Cpl. Jeremy Morlock with Staff Sgt. David Bram.

⠀THE VIDEOS (DESCRIPTION ONLY, FOR NOW)

There were at least two videos released publicly, which were a short clips from the few times longer ones. The problem is, they're not loading for now, and the archived either requires the Flash Player or there is no file archived at all. No matter the legitimacy of the killings, sharing this footage was a clear violation of Army standards. The clips were published by the 'Rolling Stone', but Spiegel and Spiegel TV have reportedly obtained a 'significant number' of photos and videos, too.

The clip presented here is excerpted from 'Motorcycle Kill,' a video collected and shared by members of the “kill team” of U.S. soldiers who murdered civilians in Afghanistan and mutilated the corpses. The jumpy, 30-minute video – shot by soldiers believed to be with another battalion in the 5th Stryker Brigade – shows American troops gunning down two Afghans on a motorcycle who may have been armed. [...] The video was taken on patrol with a helmet-mounted camera; at one point, the soldier shooting the images can be heard boasting, “I got it all on camera.”

Shot through thermal imaging, the grainy footage shows two Afghans suspected of planting an IED being blown up by an airstrike. [...] Scenes of the attack have been edited into a 15-minute music video, complete with a rock soundtrack and a title card. This clip from the video picks up shortly before the airstrike begins, accompanied by the song “En Vie” by Apocalyptica, a cello rock band from Helsinki. The video ends with grisly still images of the casualties, followed by closing credits.

Here's the song, and I suggest you to check the full lyrics translation. Parts of it seem to be matching well

Let's reduce our sorrows,

Let's finish ourselves for pleasure.

Let's distill our hatred

And drink to stop lying.

Let's drink for our memories,

Let's finish ourselves for pleasure.

⠀THE TRIALS AND CONVICTIONS

The controversies regarding the trials and convictions are apparently a separate topic. As I know shit about US legal proceedings, and it sounds boring, I'll skip describing the trials, just leaving you some links (here and at the end).

A list of the convicts, their age when charged (if not put with question mark), and some other comments, also links to the charge sheets (apart from Gibbs and Quintal, whose ones I couldn't find):

1. SSG Calvin Gibbs (25 yo). Currently serving a life sentence in USDB, Ft. Leavenworth. You can read about the controversies on his conviction here. There's also a FB fanpage 'Free SSG Calvin Gibbs', they post updates, and the last one was about the upcoming clemency hearing (18th of May, date of the hearing not released on his request, though). He was reportedly the leader of a 'Kill Team', already planning the killings for their own sake in 2009.

2. SSG David Bram (27 yo?) link - sentenced for 5 years in November 2011, for 'solicitation to commit premeditated murder and failure to report crimes including murder'. Not found guilty 'on charges relating to an alleged incident where he planted an AK-47 magazine near an Afghan civilian after he shot and killed him in January 2010'.

3. SSG Robert Stevens (25 yo) link - in December 2010, he pleaded guilty 'to shooting two unarmed Afghan farmers following a plea agreement that will allow him to remain in the military after serving a 9 month sentence and testifying against other soldiers accused of terrorizing civilians'.

4. SGT Darren Jones (29 yo) link - sentenced to 7 months in prison for assault and reduced in rank to Private in July 2011.

5. CPL Jeremy Morlock (21 yo) link - in March 2011, he pleaded guilty to 'to three counts of murder as well as single counts of assault, conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use in exchange for a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison'.

6. SPC Adam Winfield (21 yo) link - sentenced to 3 years in August 2011; pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and use of a controlled substance.

7. PFC Andrew Holmes (19 yo) link - sentenced to 7 years as a part for the plea deal. 'He pleaded guilty to shooting the civilian, but pleaded not guilty to previous charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Holmes also pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing a finger bone of the victim' and smoking hashish. As part of the deal, he received 499 days of time served and a dishonorable discharge.

8. PFC Ashton Moore (20 yo?) link - cut in pay and rank received in January 2011 after pleading guilty to smoking hashish.

9. SPC Corey Moore (22 yo?) link - 60 days of hard labor and a discharge; found guilty of 'serious misconduct, including desecrating a corpse, beating up a fellow soldier and smoking hashish'.

10. CPL Emmitt Quintal (22 yo) - sentenced to 90 days of hard labor and a bad conduct discharge in January 2011, 'after pleading guilty to keeping war souvenir photos of Afghan civilians, beating a platoon member and smoking hashish'.

11. SPC Adam Kelly (26 yo?) link - sentenced to 60 days of hard labor and given a bad conduct discharge in February 2011.

12. SPC Michael Wagnon (29 yo) link - charges dismissed.

Sworn statements (.pdf, around 30 pages): here (download link), from four soldiers - Jeremy Morlock, Kris Sprague, Justin Stoner and Adam Winfield. This file contains drawings / sketches, too.

Winfield, Morlock and Holmes (quite HQ):

Quintal when questioned:

Gibbs and his tattoos (will be explained later):

Sergeant Gibbs has refused to speak to military investigators. But during fingerprinting and photographing in May [2010], he was required to show his tattoos. On his lower left leg was an image of crossed pistols and six skulls. He told an investigator, according to an investigation transcript, that the skulls were “his way of keeping count of the kills he had. The skulls that were in red were the ones from Iraq and the other three were the kills he had in Afghanistan.”

Now, time for a few interesting statements about the convicts. There is no other criteria than me liking this one description more than another, so don't take the choice as anything else.

Calvin Gibbs is the one that got the most attention, together with Adam Winfield (as the one unsuccessfully trying to report the violations through his veteran father), Jeremy Morlock (as the one not getting a life sentence, because of a plea deal and testifying against his 4 fellow soldiers) and Justin Stoner (as the one accidentally starting this series of investigations by just reporting the soldiers smoking too much hashish in his room).

Morlock was reportedly quite chilled out and nonchalant when testifying, even when knowing he was being recorded. Apparently, his attitude was the same during the production of the 2013 documentary:

Winfield’s squadmates Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, who both helped Gibbs with the murders, are extensively interviewed here; Morlock, in particular, proves disturbingly brash. So-called whistleblower Pfc. Justin Stoner, who was not charged with any crimes, also offers edgy testimony.

You can read the detiled story of the first murder (15 yo boy) in one of the 'Rolling Stone' articles linked below. Here's just the cherry at the top of this weird cake:

As the soldiers milled around the body, a local elder who had been working in the poppy field came forward and accused Morlock and Holmes of murder. Pointing to Morlock, he said that the soldier, not the boy, had thrown the grenade. Morlock and the other soldiers ignored him.

To identify the body, the soldiers fetched the village elder who had been speaking to the officers that morning. But by tragic coincidence, the elder turned out to be the father of the slain boy. His moment of grief-stricken recognition, when he saw his son lying in a pool of blood, was later recounted in the flat prose of an official Army report. “The father was very upset,” the report noted.

How the Gibbs was viewed by the others seem mixed. Gibbs is (or at least I didn't find the mention for otherwise) married to Chelsy M. Gibbs, and they had a son in 2008. Adam Kelly claimed that 'he admired Sergeant Gibbs, as did others in their platoon, from senior officers to subordinates, and that he “displayed solid tactics.”'. How some of the other soldiers were describing Gibbs - assuming it was accurate - sounds to me like him being a sadist wasn't even a main problem there.

Killing didn't seem to trouble Gibbs at all. "He liked to kill," Winfield would later say of his superior. The investigation files state that a soldier once asked Gibbs why he cut off fingers of enemies who had been killed, and the staff sergeant responded: "Because it is fun to scare people with them." One could, for example, put a finger in an aid package for the Afghans, he said.

Gibbs also took pleasure in slaying animals. "Once we got the clearance to kill dogs, whether they were a threat to us or not," Gibbs would take any opportunity to kill them [...] Trooper Alexander Christy said that Gibbs' predilection even endangered the unit's security. "Once, Gibbs shot two dogs, and the villagers complained," [...] "They explained that from then on they would not help us." To demonstrate their displeasure, they had burned an aid package, he said. "Gibbs felt pure hatred for the Afghans, and constantly called them savages," Morlock said.

Nothing scared Gibbs. His soldiers all believed he was a sadist [...] Gibbs was able to impress the younger members of his unit with his tough appearance and exaggerated stories. Soon he would become the leader of a unit that called itself the "kill team."

Soldiers interviewed by investigators say Sergeant Gibbs had alluded to previous crimes he committed in Iraq, including one in which he shot into a car carrying an Iraqi family with children. By early this spring [2010], as Sergeant Gibbs and others were being investigated, military investigators were widening their inquiry, specifically asking about a possible shooting in Iraq in early 2004.

Here CNN material on the testimonies regarding this case:

⠀BONUS VIDEO

Here, loosely connected video, so you won't leave this post without a torture video. It was published on 7th of November 2013 in the 'Rolling Stone' by Matthieu Atkins. He was running a journalist investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan.

[... video] appears to show unidentified American soldiers watching as Afghans — likely a mix of Afghan National Army personnel and interpreters — torture and interrogate a prisoner. The video was floating around on Afghan social media pages, but has since apparently been removed. The Americans are visible around the one-minute mark.

We don’t know who they are. However, based on their facial hair and appearance they are probably from a U.S. Army Special Forces team. Moreover, the uniform pattern that they seem to be wearing did not see general use in Afghanistan until 2010.

⠀SOURCES (skipping some, too much linking)

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/09/20/129996953/5-soldiers-accused-of-setting-up-kill-team-in-afghanistan From before there were any pictures (charging document are deleted from the hosting site).

https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2025091,00.html October 2010. The link to the gallery (not related to this case, but to Afghanistan) isn't working, but its archived version is: https://web.archive.org/web/20100823082245/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2011693_2178924,00.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soldiers-crimes-idUSTRE6AT15M20101130

Multiple 'Rolling Stone' articles, including https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/feature-a-team-killings-afghanistan-special-forces/ and

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-lists/the-kill-team-photos-10864/no-title-775-64825/

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/adam-s-war-the-good-boy-and-the-kill-team-a-754141.html

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/murder-in-afghanistan-court-sentences-kill-team-soldier-to-24-years-in-prison-a-752918.html

https://www.army.mil/article/41017/five_soldiers_charged_in_murders_of_afghans

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/watch-highly-disturbing-footage-of-detainee-abuses-in-afghanistan-44658/ A bonus video ;]

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=qxcvT1xg7FM Here after 1;15, Quintal's interview screenshot.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soldiers-crimes-idUSTRE72M99H20110324

Few ones from http://jurist.org.

2021

The sniper from Taliban

His victims from Afghan army

This is an excerpt from the war documentary "Combat Obscura" by Miles Lagoze from 2019

The wounded Marine in the footage was Lance Corporal Christopher J. Levy of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Levy was seen standing on the roof of a house during a firefight in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on December 7, 2011, shooting his Mk12 SPR rifle at the enemy as bullets ricochet around him before he was mortally wounded by enemy sniper fire and evacuated from the battlefield. Levy sadly did not survive his wounds and died three days later at the age of 21

R.I.P.

The war documentary the Marine Corps doesn't want you to see is finally hitting theaters

LCPL Christopher Jacob “Phoenix” Levy (1990-2011)

A Gold Star Mother remembers her fallen Marine

There is little content on WPD relating to Bosnian war, and nothing about Srebrenica massacre in July 1995. So now there will be, although a bit chaotic. Amount of gore and suffering depictions available unfortunately don't go side by side with given events' importance here. Bosnian War started in April 1992 and ended in December 1995. However, with aftermath and trials included, related events span over three decades. That's why I skipped too much text this time, also not feeling like diving into politics. Edits will likely come, e.g. why number of victims for Srebrenica massacre is usually given as 'around 8,000' and from where other numbers come from. Or more videos.

A SHORT INTRODUCTION

First, events relating mostly to Srebrenica massacre (also refugees and forced transfers) or happening around similar time. Context for executions near Trnovo - next section is dedicated fully to it. For around 2;30: here's Ratko Mladic giving chocolate to a boy, who years later realized the importance. Mladic trial scene is also included, when he got upset on life sentence for participation in genocide (and more).

If you want more than dates for AP content - check vids descriptions in Associated Press archives, they have YouTube channel.

Pre-war situation with ethnicity on map:

Srebrenica massacre in July 1995 became a symbol as an only genocide in post-WW2 Europe. In June 2005, US House of Representatives passed a resolution, which e.g. precized that:

[...] the policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing as implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 with the direct support of Serbian regime of Slobodan Milošević and its followers ultimately led to the displacement of more than 2,000,000 people, an estimated 200,000 killed, tens of thousands raped or otherwise tortured and abused, and the innocent civilians of Sarajevo and other urban centres repeatedly subjected to shelling and sniper attacks; meet the terms defining the crime of genocide in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, created in Paris on 9 December 1948, and entered into force on 12 January 1951.

EDIT: Number of casualties mentioned there (in 2005) was overestimated. It comes from SIPRI, which gave upper limit as 250,000 in their 1996 yearbook. 200,000 is higher than numbers later given for all Yugoslav wars. ICTY report published in January 2010 (just summary for press use there: https://www.icty.org/en/press/new-war-demographics-feature-icty-website) mentiones nearly 105,000 killed.

SHOW MORE

https://live.sahafahn.net/news13549942.html

The Battle of Tora Bora was an ambush-turn-battle by the U.S. military in Pachir Wa Agam District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda (Specifically Brigades 055) in 2001 in order to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden.

Tora Bora is a large cave complex and was considered one of the last Al-Qaeda strong holds in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the reestablishment of the Islamic State of Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul in 2001.

Background

The September 11th attacks is the main cause of the invasion of Afghanistan and the Battle of Tora Bora. Due to Osama Bin Laden having a major part of the planning and executing of the September 11th attacks he was considered target number one during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

After extensive investigation and research by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency they found Osama Bin Laden's hideout in the mountainous area of the Tora Bora cave complex.

(Osama Bin Laden in Tora Bora)

With all this information that the U.S. discovered, they launched an attack on Tora Bora.

The Battle

The Battle started with the U.S. military dropping large bombs on the mountainous area of Tora Bora, these bombs are known as Dairy Cutters.

(Strikes on Tora Bora)

(Strike in Tora Bora)

Special Boat Service of the British Navy and a 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment soldier accompanied the American troops in Tora Bora with members of the German Kommando Spezialkräfte doing so as well.

On November 30, 2001, there was a creation of a coalition of U.S. Special Forces, Joint Special Operations Command soldiers, and a detachment of CIA operatives codenamed "Jawbreaker" which was lead by Gary Berntsen.

(Member of the coalition and Delta Force)

On December 1, Berntsen made a request to general Tommy Franks to send in a battalion of around 800 United States Army Rangers. The plan was to block off the mountain passes into Pakistan and cut off Osama bin Laden's escape, however, the request was denied by general Franks. This, according to Berntsen, was the reason why Osama Bin Laden was able to escape from U.S. grasp.

Two Afghan commanders, Hazrat Ali and Mohammed Zaman, had a strong dislike and mutual distrust against each other and as a result, their factions often shot at each other instead of focusing on fighting Al-Qaeda.

In early December Al-Qaeda decided to withdraw from the high ground of the mountainous area which is when a team of elite Delta Force soldiers led by Major Tom Greer, aka Dalton Fury, arrived on December 8, 2001, disguised with traditional clothing and grown bushy beards to blend in with the Afghan militias who were also carrying that were the same types of weapons as their local counterparts.

(Delta Force members in disguise)

The Americans were able to gain confidential information on Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden during the battle after taking a radio communication device from a dead Al-Qaeda militant. Through the radio had they confirmed that Osama Bin Laden talking about a CIA operative under the alias of "Jalal".

Through December Afghan fighters continued a steady advance through the difficult terrain, backed by airstrikes and U.S. and British Special Forces.

(Strikes in Tora Bora, 2001)

The U.S. bombed the bunker that bin Laden was believed to be hiding in on December 9, however, he had already evacuated the bunker on the previous day.

On December 12, 2001, Al-Qaeda militants saw that defeat was inevitable and decided to speak to Afghan forces on the truce deal and asked for time to cease their weapons. Though many critics of the truce state that this was just a ploy to get top Al-Qaeda leaders and militants including Osama Bin Laden out of harm's.

The ceasefire and truce deal ultimately failed, with fighting continuing the day after on December 13, 2001.

U.S. force further increased against Tora Bora, with mass attacks using local Afghan tribes, either paid or organized by U.S or British operatives with heavy bombing continuing against supposed Al-Qaeda locations. However, the progress of the forces was extremely slow due to every night to break their fast during Ramadan which left a small number of U.S. forces to fend themselves during the night. But on On December 14, 2001, the Americans finally convinced Hazrat Ali to keep his men in position and continue advancing even after dark. But at this point, too much time had already been wasted, allowing most of the Al-Qaeda leadership to escape into Pakistan.

It is believed that Osama Bin Laden left Tora Bora on December 15, 2001, for Jalalabad, Afghanistan. This is what is considered by some "A land victory, but an operative failure".

On December 17, 2001, the last of the large caves are in American/Afghani control and only hard-line Al-Qaeda fighters still remained in the cave complexes, around 60 fighters stayed behind in the caves before being killed off or deserting. Even after the battle the U.S. forces continued searching the area into January, but did not find any signs of bin Laden or the Al-Qaeda leadership.

Aftermath

(Man talking about the "martyrs" that died in Tora Bora)

Due to the Americans staying at Tora Bora in order to continue to find Osama Bin Laden many Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces bombarded American troops in Tora Bora.

(Ambush against American troops in Tora Bora by the Taliban)

Hecko WPD. I'm at my stylist and despite tipping $40 every visit I am still waiting for some reason. I think it's time for a new hair person.

I'm not sure if this video is a repost on this site do let me know in the comment with a link to the original video so I could remove this if its a repost

I downloaded it a year and a half or 2 years ago on Kaotic right before it was deleted because I knew videos of this this ambush were deleted and removed so quick I had to save it on my older rig.

R. I. P to the guy who tried escaping, hide and take little cover on a shitty terrain behind a single thorny tree from the overwhelmed fire suppression from all directions of sinful delusional losers

• SGT. La David Johnson was later found by Tongo Tongo locals which they called and informed the Nigerien military which the NAF arrived to the location and found La David was not captured alive and was looted, stripped head head to toe by the militants.

Also to the Staff SGT Dustin Wright providing suppression to cover his injured battle buddy Staff SGT. Jeremiah Johnson until they were fatally shot wounded and killed brutally as can be seen in the video and the bodies of the aftermaths.

- Staff Sgt Jeremiah Johnson - Staff Sgt Dustin Wright

under Staff SGT. Bryan Black photo is the remains of Dustin Wright's corpse same goes for Staff SGT Dustin Wright's photo below him is Staff SGT Bryan Blacks body

Syrian soldier receives a missile from afar

i love trans

I don't believe the guy fucking survived it

Afghanistan War

Unfortunately I have no further information on the place or date this happened.

Greetings.