Korangal Valley (alternatively spelled Korengal, Kurangal, Korangal; ), also nicknamed "The Valley of Death" is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

in the Dara-I-Pech District of

Kunar Province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- ...

, eastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Agriculture and forestry

The valley is formed by a right

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Pech River The Pech River () is located in eastern Afghanistan. Course The Pech River system is fed from glaciers and snow from the Hindu Kush range to its north. The river rises in central Nuristan Province and flows south and southeasterly through the ...

. It is about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) long and 10 kilometers wide. The valley has rocky mountains with limited agricultural land. The Korangal Valley is lushly forested with pine trees. Much of the valley's income is due to legal and illegal forestry and timber sales. In 2006, U.S. military and the government of Afghanistan reclaimed the Lumber Yard and established the first government presence in the valley since the 1980s. The Afghan government is working to find ways to boost the economy of the region so that illegal timbering can come to an end.

Population

The Korangal Valley is home to around 10,000 people known as Korangalis. They live in scattered villages along the valley, relying mainly on

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksAsadabad, the provincial capital, from where they are usually transported to Pakistan. The ethnic origins of the Korangalis are uncertain, with some anthropologists suggesting they may be related to the

Nuristanis The Nuristanis are an Indo-Iranian ethnic group native to the Nuristan Province (formerly Kafiristan) of northeastern Afghanistan and Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan. Their languages comprise the Nuristani branch of Indo-Iranian la ...

or Pashayi. The name of the valley, however, comes from the Southern

Nuristani languages The Nuristani languages are one of the three groups within the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian language family, alongside the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages, Iranian languages. They have approximately 214,000 speakers ...

(such as Waigali, Ashkun, Tregami or Zemiaki) Korangalis also speak their own dialect. Historically, the Korangalis inhabited the fertile lands near the

, but were displaced by migrating Safis. This displacement led to a longstanding feud between the two groups, although the Safis never attempted to invade the valley itself. During the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

, the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

tried to enter the valley, but were defeated by the locals.

Villages

The valley includes more than a dozen villages:

War in Afghanistan

U.S. Army Special Forces and Rangers had conducted an unknown number of operations there prior to October 2004 when 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines became the first Marine unit to begin operations there, followed by 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines the next month. In the fall of 2005, the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines Echo Company conducted a 28-day foot patrol beginning at the backside of the valley, not only making them the farthest occupying force in that area to date but also claiming the longest completed foot patrol since Vietnam. Later Ed Darack wrote the book '' Victory Point'', documenting two operations that the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines conducted in the area, including the Korangal Valley, Operation Red Wings, and Operation Whalers. The Korangal Outpost (KOP) was established at an abandoned lumber yard in April 2006 by Task Force Lava of

1st Battalion, 3rd Marines The 3d Littoral Combat Team (formerly 1st Battalion, 3d Marines) is an infantry unit in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Nicknamed the "Lava Dogs", the unit consists of approximately 800 Marines and sailors a ...

and subsequently transferred to the U.S. Army's Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry,

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in ...

. Firebase Phoenix (later called Firebase Vimoto) was established in the village of Babeyal in the spring of 2007 by 2nd Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, 10th Mountain Division to act as a security buffer between the villagers and active anti-coalition militia (ACM) fighters in the valley. The strongly independent tribes of the Korangal Valley, who have opposed all forms of government other than a council of elders, viewed the U.S. troops as invaders. This created constant tension between the locals and the U.S. military which prevented significant progress against the Taliban. After years of sustained fighting and casualties, the U.S. military closed Korangal Outpost on April 14, 2010; the valley subsequently reverted to Taliban control. Forty-two American servicemen died fighting in the Korangal and hundreds were wounded, primarily between 2006 and 2009. Many Afghan soldiers died there as well. The valley has been dubbed "The Valley of Death" by American forces. British photographer Tim Hetherington won the 2008

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

award with a shot he took while reporting on the war in Korangal Valley for '' Vanity Fair'' magazine in January 2008.

Sebastian Junger Sebastian Junger (born January 17, 1962) is an American journalist, author and filmmaker who has reported in-the-field on Dirty,_dangerous_and_demeaning, dirty, dangerous and demanding occupations and the experience of Light_infantry#United_Sta ...

's (2010) book ''War'', and the subsequent film '' Restrepo'', document his experiences while embedded with Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team that manned the small Outpost Restrepo, named for fallen medic Juan Sebastián Restrepo, in the Korangal Valley. A second film, '' Korengal'', gives a more in-depth view into life at Outpost Restrepo. By early 2019, the valley was captured by Islamic State - Khorasan Province affiliated groups, after multiple clashes with Taliban groups present in the area. As of later that year, clashes were still ongoing between Taliban-affiliated groups and ISKP fighters in the valley.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Authority control Valleys of Afghanistan Landforms of Kunar Province