January To July
See also: Operation Pickaxe-Handle, Operation Hoover, and Operation Hammer (Afghanistan)In January and February 2007, British Royal Marines mounted Operation Volcano to clear insurgents from firing points in the village of Barikju, north of Kajaki. This was followed by Operation Achilles, a major sweeping offensive that started in March and ended in late May. The UK ministry of defence announced its intention to bring British troop levels in the country up to 7,700 (committed until 2009). Further operations, such as Operation Silver and Operation Silicon, were conducted to keep up the pressure on the Taliban in the hopes of blunting their expected spring offensive.
On March 4, 2007, at least 12 civilians were killed and 33 were injured by U.S. Marines in the Shinwar district of the Nangrahar province of Afghanistan as the Americans reacted to a bomb ambush with excessive force, hitting groups of bystanders along 10 miles (16 km) of highway with machine gun fire. The event has become known as the Shinwar Massacre. The 120 member Marine unit responsible for the attack was asked to leave the country because the incident damaged the unit's relations with the local Afghan population.
British and ISAF forces continued to battle the Taliban, who had besieged the Sangin District of Helmand Province since June 2006 through to April 2007. A combined operation of Afghan, British, Canadian, Danish, Estonian and US forces removed the Taliban from Sangin, and the Afghan government were able to return. Taliban forces though were still in surrounding areas.
On May 1, British Major-General Jacko Page replaced Dutch Major-General Ton van Loon as ISAF Regional Commander South.
On May 12, 2007, only ISAF Special Forces and U.S.forces,(Willo Calzada,(now Ret.), james Brown, Billy Orson), International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) killed Mullah Dadullah, a notorious Taliban commander in charge of leading operations in the south of the country; eleven other Taliban fighters were killed in the same firefight.
Operation Achilles ended on May 30, 2007 and was immediately followed by Operation Lastay Kulang that night.
Read more about this topic: Coalition Combat Operations In Afghanistan In 2007
Famous quotes containing the words january and/or july:
“I have never been disappointed when I asked in a humble and sincere way for God’s help. I pray often. I think I pray more often since January 12th.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)