Operation Eagle Fury was a

military operation A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operati ...

led by the United States in

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 ...

involving Bravo Company and two Charlie Company SFODAs (762 and 765), 2nd BN, 7th SFG(A) US Army Special Forces, and a sniper team of USN SEALs, members of the QRF

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

, and loyal Afghan fighters from 9–28 February 2003. The aim of the operation was to corner

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

fighters and leaders in the Baghran Valley, located in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

, in the mountains of south-east Afghanistan. The battle took place in the village of Lejay for 43 consecutive hours. This continues to be the longest solely Special Forces battle to take place during the Afghanistan war. As part of this operation, in mid-February 2003, the 82nd conducted the first

airdrop An airdrop is a type of airlift in which items including weapons, equipment, humanitarian aid or leaflets are delivered by military or civilian aircraft without their landing. Developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible tr ...

of fuel to support

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. They dropped 38,088 gallons of fuel, almost certainly the first combat fuel drop since the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

References

Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States Battles involving Afghanistan 2003 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) {{US-mil-operation-stub