, image = , image_size = , alt = , caption = , start_date = October 2021 , end_date = , disbanded = , country =

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, allegiance = Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , branch =

Afghan Army The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be tr ...

, type =

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

, role = , size = , command_structure = , garrison = , garrison_label = , nickname = Mansoori , patron = , motto = , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles =

Republican insurgency in Afghanistan The republican insurgency in Afghanistan is an ongoing armed conflict between the National Resistance Front and allied groups which fight under the banner of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on one side, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanis ...

* Balkhab uprising , battles_label = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , website = , current_commander = , commander1 = Maulvi Hezbollah Afghan , commander1_label = Chief of Staff , commander2 = Qari Mohammad Ayub Khalid , commander2_label = Commander , commander3 = Rohul Amin , commander3_label = Deputy Commander , commander4 = , commander4_label = , commander5 = , commander5_label = , commander6 = , commander6_label = , commander7 = , commander7_label = , commander8 = , commander8_label = , commander9 = , commander9_label = , notable_commanders = , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = , identification_symbol_3 = , identification_symbol_3_label = , identification_symbol_4 = , identification_symbol_4_label = , identification_symbol_5 = , identification_symbol_5_label = The 203 Mansoori Corps is one of the eight corps of the Islamic Emirate Army established in October 2021 and headquartered in Gardez. The current Chief of Staff is Maulvi Hezbollah Afghan. In December 2021, 450 soldiers after completing military training graduated from the 203 Mansoori Corps headquarters in

Paktia province Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly ...

. The corps includes of the 2nd and 3rd Border Brigade each consists of hundreds of security personnel. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan-era corps it replaced was known as the 203 'Tandar' Corps and was a part of Afghan National Army.

Commands

203 Tandar Corps until 2021

The 203rd 'Tandar' (Thunder) Corps was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the Afghan National Army (ANA), headquartered in Gardez. The original Gardez Regional Command was established on 23 September 2004. It was heavily involved in the

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) The War in Afghanistan was an armed conflict that began when an international military coalition led by the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate and establishing the internationally r ...

. Early in 2006, the formation carried out the very first of the reborn Afghan Army's Mmedical

civic action program A civic action program also known as civic action project is a type of operation designed to assist an area by using the capabilities and resources of a military force or civilian organization to conduct long-term programs or short-term projects. ...

s, providing medical assistance to the civilian population, in

Khost Province Khost ( Pashto/ Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Khost consists of thirteen districts and the city of Khost serves as the capital of the province. To the east, Khost Province is ...

. On 19 October 2006, as part of Operation Mountain Fury, two Embedded Training Teams (ETTs) supervised a D30 artillery section from Fourth Battalion, Second Brigade, 203rd Corps, as it fired its first combat artillery missions, harassing the enemy with indirect fires. Three days later, the battalion successfully conducted counterfire (with assistance from a US Q-36 radar). Major General Abdul Khaliq, the corps commander, took operational command of Operation Maiwand in Andar district,

Ghazni Province Ghazni (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in southeastern Afghanistan. The province contains 19 districts, encompassing over a thousand villages and roughly 1.3 million people, making it the 5th most populous province. Th ...

, a reported Taliban stronghold, in July 2007. This was reported as the first large-scale mission the ANA had planned and executed. Maiwand involved over 1,000 Afghan and 400

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

personnel. As of 2009, the corps consisted of the First Brigade (

Khost Khōst ( ps, خوست) is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram ...

), Second Brigade (Forward Operating Base Rushmore, Sharana,

Paktika Province Paktika (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000, mostly ethnic Pashtuns. The town of Sharan ...

), and Third Brigade (

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

). As of 30 November 2011, Brig. Gen. Zamaray Khan was listed by ''

Jane's Defence Weekly ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who ...

'' as commander of the Second Brigade, 203rd Corps. The corps was supported by the Gardez Regional Support Squadron of the Afghan Air Force, equipped with eight helicopters: four transport, to support the corps' commando battalion; two attack; and two medical transport. In 2017, the 203rd Corps and 303rd Police Zone demonstrated a high level of cooperation not seen across Afghanistan according to Colonel Matthew J. Van Wagenen, commander of Task Force Southeast. The last commander of the Corps was General Dadan Lawang who had earlier been retired by Asadullah Khalid but brought back by

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in ...

. The Corps surrendered in Gardez on 14 August 2021.

References

{{Afghan National Security Forces Corps of the Islamic Emirate Army Military units and formations established in 2004

Commands

203 Tandar Corps until 2021

See also

References