CHAPTER 18
SLAUGHTER
To this day, it’s road kill that gets me. Fresh road kill. Too much like…you know. I hate that smell. I almost throw up every time I pass it.
MOTHER
Getting the wounded soldier evacuated was the first priority, and ammunition resupply was a close second. Both came fast. Intel was next. We needed to put a Predator drone overhead to give us an accurate picture of the evolving situation.
People today don’t realize that when we went into Afghanistan, I had only one Predator line. I was a division commander, a two-star division commander, and I had only one Predator. Today every U.S. captain in theatre has a Predator he can direct. Back then, I had one. So it would work for Nick Nickleson in RC East or it would work for Dave Fraser in RC South, but it couldn’t work for both.
BEN FREAKLEY
Today, that Predator was working for us. Controllers dispatched the unmanned aircraft to have a look at Sperwan Ghar and surrounds, and put a B-1 bomber on station to respond kinetically and immediately to whatever was found. That turned out to be fascinating. Within a kilometre of the hill there were other buildings and compounds in which they could now see significant activity. Toyota Hilux trucks were either moving toward or parked beside some key buildings, indicating that Taliban fighters had moved into position for the fight. As Derek Prohar reported to me, Jared Hill reviewed the Predator feed from the field, satisfied himself that there were no civilians at the site, then called in an airstrike. The B-1 moved in and obliged. From the Taliban chatter that followed, it became clear that many of their fighters and two of their senior commanders had been killed. The rest of the day would be quiet, but tomorrow TF 31 would have to go back in.
But, as it turned out, they did not go in the next day. Resupply Chinooks arrived throughout the day, escorted by Apaches. Both were fired on yet were able to deliver TF 31 its ammunition, fuel and food, and drop off their injured comrade who was now patched-up and ready to get back in the fight. With the final Chinook arriving only at mid-afternoon, the next attack on Sperwan Ghar would start close to dusk if it went ahead that same day. That would be tactically unsound given the Afghan National Army’s limited night-vision capability and relative lack of experience in nighttime operations, two conditions that could expose TF 31 to potential fire by their own allies. Don Bolduc pressed them to go on, but left it to Jared to decide. He did. They would wait.
All eleven vehicles moved out just before dawn on September 5 toward Sperwan Ghar. They headed off-road to avoid mines and IEDs, and made it past the site of the previous ambush without incident. Then, as morning prayers blasted from the loudspeakers of nearby mosques, the Taliban emerged and began firing. After responding in kind, the task force dismounted and took cover behind the berms surrounding the hill. From here they could see a compound of seven buildings lower down the hill, and agreed they would have to clear those buildings and the schoolhouse at the bottom of Sperwan Ghar before fighting their way up to take the higher ground. In a fierce and extended firefight, they did exactly that, but they had to clear that schoolhouse twice. Just as Charles Company had experienced on its way to the white schoolhouse in Pashmul, the enemy was on its own terrain and knew all the hidden routes by which to re-enter cleared spaces and fire on coalition troops from the rear.
At several points in the fight TF 31 was fired upon from all sides, but they prevailed. Eventually they moved to higher ground and set up a .50 calibre machine gun to sweep back and forth across enemy positions, making it difficult for the Taliban to fire their weapons at the task force members at all. ANA riflemen took a nearby position spraying fire in a complementary arc from their tripod-mounted Kalashnikov machine gun. With the Taliban attack thus suppressed, the remaining ODAs charged toward the school to flush the enemy outside, where this time they would be downed by machine guns.
Once that was done, it was time to take the hill. Exiting the school, the assault force moved up the incline, spreading out as it progressed. When one ANA solider stepped on a mine, a reduction in tempo was ordered so a team could sweep for further hidden explosives on the way up. Their comrades fired on the enemy as cover. The going was dangerously slow, the combat long and exhausting, but the ascent was successful. They made the crest of the hill, targeted the last of the Taliban occupying the high feature, and stopped.
But not for long. The Taliban stormed right back at them from below. Looking down the hill, then confirming their observation using the Predator feed, TF 31 realized that enemy reinforcements were swarming into the schoolhouse and adjacent buildings, mustering their force ratio to attack the hill with greater effect. This was unexpected. Where were they coming from? After only a few minutes, even with air support, TF 31 was once again fighting for its life. The task force’s own reinforcements arrived at the hill, but those vehicles were immediately attacked. One rolled over an IED, causing a number of casualties. Soon there were eight wounded soldiers at the casualty collection point and, with the seemingly growing number of heavily armed Taliban fighters, no Chinook could get anywhere near. The medevac had become a favoured target of the insurgents.
At length, the soldiers on the ground were able to direct tracer fire into key enemy positions, which gave the Apache pilots the guidance they needed to move in for decisive strikes. With many of the Taliban fighters under air attack, the Chinook then swept in to take away the wounded, even though still under fire itself.
Their wounded now heading to the hospital at Kandahar Airfield, the soldiers of TF 31 kept moving up the hill for what they knew would be a major attack from below. As they re-ascended, intelligence reported a considerable increase in enemy radio chatter, including a clear reference to a commander’s palace. By taking Sperwan Ghar we had compromised a Taliban centre of strategic importance. As such, I had to declare that Sperwan Ghar would now become our main effort within Operation Medusa. While the task force held off the enemy, all available air power was shifted to the area. In the next few hours no fewer than twenty attack aircraft would participate in airstrikes at Sperwan Ghar, backed by a tanker to eliminate the need for aircraft to exit the area to refuel.
The strike was conducted by A-10s with three successive 1,000-pound bombs dropping on the buildings. These were followed up with gun runs, decimating the enemy positions. The enemy tried to move closer to deter the air support from making strikes, lest coalition planes hit their own men, but this did no good. The strikes continued and the Taliban fighters were badly compromised. After the A-10s left to refuel with the tanker, the Apaches arrived. They circled the area, flushing out and eliminating pockets of enemy fighters. Under the cover of the air strikes, the men on the ground dug into the school and found one room with useful intelligence about Taliban leadership that complemented and confirmed the rumours they had heard from passers-by when they emerged from the Red Desert. Even after the sun set, there was no let-up. A-10s and the AC-130 returned to continue strikes as the Chinooks doggedly kept up the vital inflow of resupplies. More than a hundred Taliban were killed that night alone.
The battle continued at this manic pace for two more days. On September 6 the task force could see at least two hundred Taliban moving across the river from the area of Siah Choy, the centre of enemy activity that we had defined as Objective Tennis. They crossed the Arghandab in their pickup trucks to attack as TF 31 rained machine-gun fire down the hill. A further assault was carried out against the schoolhouse, which was beginning to be the true focus of enemy interest. Clearly they wanted to reoccupy that space. What the hell was in there? Once again, intelligence reported numerous high-level Taliban leaders in the area, but we had known that before.
As the fighting continued over the next day, support for TF 31 continued to pour in. ISAF reinforcements arrived in earnest. Additional special forces operators joined the battle. Comanche Company from the 10th Mountain Division moved in. More ANA soldiers moved down from areas closer to M’sūm Ghar. Bigger guns arrived. U.S. Navy Harriers from an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean appeared in the sky. And both Don Bolduc and Ben Freakley showed up in Ben’s Blackhawk to inspect the battlefield. Weapons and equipment were in rough shape, torn by small-arms and rocket fire, shredded by shrapnel from mines and RPG shells. They found their soldiers battered, exhausted and some wounded, but all fully committed to whatever had to be done next.
We were blessed with an aviation task force led by the Americans. Comprising Chinooks, Blackhawks and Apache attack helicopters, medevac and combat search and rescue helos, this was my most flexible task force. High demand, low density meant that everyone wanted a piece of them. I never ceased to be amazed at how available they were and how willing they were to lean into any challenge. As the mission evolved, this task force expanded to include the Australians and Dutch. All contingents were superb, and critical to many operations.Credit 35
With the pounding the Taliban was now taking, they shifted their tactics back from conventional to guerrilla combat, splintering into smaller groups that could move faster and hide more easily than a large force. They continued to cross the Arghandab in droves, rallying west of Sperwan near a hill called Zangabar Ghar. From there they drove east toward the hill and school building, which put them in the face of heavy task-force machine-gun fire. The Taliban death toll was growing fast. On one radio transmission, a commander admitted to having lost at least three hundred of his men…so far.
The flow of fighters into Zangabar Ghar had to be stopped. At noon on September 7, ODA 36 headed out to recce the location. It wasn’t far, but when nearing the objective, rough terrain forced them to dismount and leave their vehicles behind as they made their way forward. The area was thick with tall vegetation and riddled with pathways cut by the Taliban through the brush. The recce team came upon a compound in which signs of life indicated that someone had just left. However, they weren’t gone for long. Soon after, swarms of Taliban fighters were seen moving back through the irrigation ditches. ODA 36 engaged them.
Back at Sperwan Ghar, the rest of the task force could see clearly what was happening. Another wave of Taliban was crossing the Arghandab just north of Zangabar Ghar, then heading right for the compound in the brush. The ensuing firefight was furious and bloody. ODA 36 suffered numerous casualties, their team leader among them.
The rest of TF 31 and their ANA fellows fired down into the valley from Sperwan Ghar. Their view was excellent and their aim was true. As Hilux trucks with ten or more Taliban each plowed across the river, the task force unleashed a relentless barrage of firepower into the battlespace, killing anything that moved. To be blunt, it was slaughter. Next the Apaches moved in to clear the far side of the river in a devastating display of superior power. At the same time, an F-18 cleared a path out from the compound, pushing the Taliban far enough back so that ODA 36 could make a fast escape, which they did.
Supported from the air by experienced and savvy aviators, the soldiers of Task Force 31—Americans and Afghans together—had carried the day. After a week’s unrelenting battle, the Taliban had been forced to abandon their positions on and around Sperwan Ghar, which to this day is a coalition forward operating base. Subsequent inspection of those buildings that the enemy had fought so hard to defend revealed that Sperwan Ghar had been not only a Taliban command post, but also the central training facility for all Taliban fighters in the region. We had wiped out their warfare school.
At a ceremony at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on May 23, 2012, these TF 31 members were honoured by Canada’s Governor General and Commander-in-Chief with the presentation of the Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation. This prestigious honour had been created in 2002 to recognize outstanding service by units of the Canadian Armed Forces that had been under direct fire in times of conflict. It is the highest level of award any military unit can receive from Canada, and only six such commendations had ever been awarded to Canadian Armed Forces units. The 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group was the first-ever, non-Canadian allied unit to be awarded this honour. The commendation read:
During August and September 2006, the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), United States Army, displayed extraordinary heroism and outstanding combat ability while battling insurgents in support of a Canadian-led operation in Afghanistan. After completing their initial objectives, they willingly engaged a much larger force to secure the Canadian Battlegroup’s flank and prevent the enemy from staging an effective counter-offensive. Outnumbered and facing a well-prepared enemy, they were relentless in their assault and eventually captured the position after days of intense fighting.
Many men had been wounded at Sperwan Ghar, among them Derek Prohar, the Canadian liaison to TF 31 who had kept me informed of the action I’ve just described. When I visited Sperwan Ghar soon after, I spoke with Derek and learned that he had been injured not once but three times in those seven days. The first was taking a shrapnel wound from an RPG shell. The second was being blown five feet in the air when his vehicle hit an IED. The third was having a bullet from an AK-47 hit him straight in the chest. Three times lucky.
The AK round was stopped by his body armour. I saw the hole in his uniform and the indentation in his armour myself. I was astounded to reflect that not once in all his radio reports had Derek ever bothered to mention himself.