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Operation Jacana is the
codename A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...
for a series of operations carried out by coalition forces 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 ...
. The operations were carried out most notably by 45 Commando
Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
. U.S. forces, Australian SAS and Norwegian FSK also participated. The operation was a follow-up operation of
Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda or the Battle of Shah-i-Kot was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban force ...
and was meant to kill or capture the remaining
Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
and
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) ...
rebels. The operation has been called a "mopping up" operation after
Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda or the Battle of Shah-i-Kot was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban force ...
. The operation is named after an African bird type, jacana, described in one manual as "shy, retiring, easily overlooked". Operation Jacana includes the following operations: * Operation Ptarmigan * Operation Snipe * Operation Condor * Operation Buzzard All these operations were meant to "clean up" the remaining Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces out of the area of operations.


Events


Operation Ptarmigan

On 16 April 2002, a Royal Marine taskforce had been deployed to Bagram Airbase as part of Operation Ptarmigan: A 5-day operation with the aim to clear high mountain valleys (up to 11,000 ft), southeast of
Gardez Gardez ( / ; ''Gardēz'', meaning "mountain fortress" in Middle Persian) is the capital of the Paktia Province of Afghanistan. The population of the city was estimated to be ca. 10,000 in the 1979 census and was estimated to be 70,000 in 2008. Th ...
, searching for Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces and to destroy their bunkers and cave complexes. The Operation took place in coordination with Coalition forces conducting Operation Mountain Lion (whose objectives were the same) that began a day earlier. 400 troops from the Royal Marines reconnaissance troop supported by the RAF, discovered a number of previously unknown cave complexes, one of which contained over 20,000 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition in the Shah-i-Kot area, which was destroyed. More than 400 Royal Marines went into "action" alongside a small number of US and Afghan troops after the US requested help; they did not encounter either Taliban or al-Qaeda forces—supporting suspicions that many had fled across the nearby border to Pakistan—but there was evidence and indications that the facilities had been used and coalition troops seized a "great deal" of papers, maps, and radios in Shah-i-Kot area which was studied for intelligence information. The operation ended on April 18, 2002. By 20 April 2002, a total of nearly 1,700 Royal Marines had been deployed as part of the task force.


Operation Snipe

In May 2002, 600 Royal Marines and 400 Afghan soldiers supported by U.S. air power and U.S. special operations troops began Operation Snipe, a continuation of Operation Ptarmigan in Patika Province. The Royal Marine force carrying out the operation did not come across any al Qaeda or Taliban fighters (whilst moving into position the marines found small-arms ammunition hidden in a cave and some old defensive positions belonging to al-Qaeda), however on 9 May, the troops discovered caves and removed 30 truckloads of anti-aircraft, anti-tank ammunition and other heavy munitions and military equipment, including mortars, 2 Russian-made tanks were also found outside the cave. On 10 May, British troops destroyed "a vast arsenal of weaponry" (more than 20 truckloads of ammunition and weapons were destroyed in the biggest controlled explosion British forces have carried out since World War II) and al Qaeda or Taliban infrastructure by blowing up an enormous cache of weapons stored in a cave complex. The operation lasted 2 weeks (other sources say 16 days) and ended on 13 May 2002, the operation was part of a much larger operation led by the
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...
and designed to show the al-Qa'eda and Taliban fighters, the vast majority of whom were known to be in sanctuaries inside Pakistan, that they could not operate inside Afghanistan with impunity. One reason for the failure of not finding any al-Qaeda or Taliban militants was the refusal by Major-General Franklin Hagenbeck, the US force commander, of several British requests for a blocking force of American troops from 101st Airborne Division to plug two valleys as the Marines moved through them.


Operation Condor

On 17 May 2002, coalition forces began Operation Condor following an incident in Patika province the previous day: On May 16, an Australian SAS patrol came under fire for five hours from heavy mortars and machine guns and was chased by 20 to 60 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, Apache helicopter gunships and AC-130 gunship carried out airstrikes killing about 10 people, the rest of fighters are thought to have dispersed into small groups and blended in with local residents or fled across the border to neighbouring Pakistan. The next day, other coalition forces were deployed to assist them where a 1,000-strong coalition force (500-800 were Royal Marines) led by the Royal Marines surrounded the Khost-Paktia region. American, British, and Australian forces were in "blocking" positions as the British Royal Marines swept the area, supported by US attack helicopters and gunships who bombarded the area; the operation was conducted at heights of between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. On 17 May Brigadier Roger Lane, the top British commander in the coalition forces was supposedly battling a "substantial force" of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the mountains, but British Royal Marines spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ben Curry said on 18 May: "There has been no combat, we have established a forward operating base and are now clearing the area," Coalition jets and helicopters supported ground troops throughout the day. Coalition troops searched the area without meeting any resistance, but a small amount of ammunition including two 120 mm rockets. It later emerged that the militants who attacked the Australians were not Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters, but rather local tribal militias. Small-scale skirmishes between rival warlords were a common occurrence in Afghanistan's deeply tribal
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
culture. It appeared the militia forces had simply mistaken the Australians for their tribal rivals. Once again, coalition forces deployed without finding any signs of Taliban or al-Qaeda presence. On 20 May, Brigadier Roger Lane, the commander of the Royal Marine force in Afghanistan was replaced by Brigadier Jim Dutton, relations between Lane and the head of the US military were said to be poor after US General
Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States Armed Forces, United States military op ...
allegedly found out about the Royal Marines' Operation from CNN rather than from Brig Lane. He also contradicted the US defence secretary,
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
, by saying the war in Afghanistan would be over in a few weeks. Mr Rumsfeld publicly disagreed; he reportedly lost the confidence of his men and his junior commanders, and his tactical decisions came across as increasingly "desperate for some success".


Operation Buzzard

On 28 or 29 May 2002, the Royal Marines began Operation Buzzard: the aim of the operation was to "prevent freedom of movement of al-Qa'eda and Taliban and to deny them sanctuary from which to operate" according to Royal Marine Lieutenant-Colonel Ben Curry. 45 to 300 British Marines from Taskforce Jacana and local Afghan soldiers were deployed into Khost close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, accompanied by several US civil affairs officials on a "hearts and minds" operation; amid fears that al-Qaeda and Taliban forces were plotting terrorist attacks from across the frontier. The Marines conducted patrols in populated and rural areas using a mixture of helicopter, foot, and vehicle patrols and setting up checkpoints; this new method was to be "unpredictable, operating in smaller sub-unit attachments operating in an area sometimes covertly and introducing that unpredictability and doubt into the minds of the al-Qaeda and Taliban." Caves and bunkers containing arms,
ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
and supplies were found and destroyed. Over 100 mortars, a hundred
anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...
weapons along with hundreds of
RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
s,
anti-personnel mine An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of land mine, mine designed for use against human, humans, as opposed to an anti-tank mine, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; ...
s,
rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
s and
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
shells and thousands of rounds of
small-arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...
and
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
ammunition. Two British marines confronted nine armed insurgents and made them surrender. However, just like in the previous Condor operation, these turned out to be local militias who had mistaken the Royal Marines for a rival tribal force and opened fire.


Aftermath

The operation came to an end on 9 July 2002, the operation had shown that al-Qaeda and the Taliban had abandoned a large-scale presence in the region.
Madeleine Bunting Madeleine Clare J. Bunting (born March 1964) is an English writer. She was formerly an associate editor and columnist at ''The Guardian'' newspaper. She has written five works of non-fiction and two novels (''Ceremony of Innocence'' will be publi ...
criticized the operation, writing in an article for ''The Guardian'' newspaper that "Afghanistan is in danger of becoming the most embarrassing chapter in the recent history of British military engagements." In the end, the Royal Marines had encountered only trigger-happy Afghan militias, with no signs of the terrorists that they had been deployed to fight. Nonetheless, the operation did have one lasting impact; it highlighted the need to disarm such militias. This set plans in motion in Washington to build up a national
Afghan army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...
to replace such local militias. 45 Commando had been chosen for this operation due to their expertise in high-altitude warfare, for which they train regularly in the Norwegian mountains; despite this experience,
altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different wa ...
still became a problem with some of the marines, who needed to be airlifted out due to this condition. Norwegian special forces were also specifically asked by NATO to operate in these highland areas because of their experience in high altitudes and cold weather.


Sources

* ''Special Forces: War Against Terrorism'' by Eric Micheletti.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacana Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United Kingdom Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Australia Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Norway 2002 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) History of Khost Province History of Paktia Province