Battle of Takur Ghar

Rare card · No. 40911

The Battle of Takur Ghar was a short but intense military engagement between United States special operations forces and al-Qaeda insurgents fought in March 2002, atop Takur Ghar mountain in Afghanistan during which Senior Chief Petty Officer Britt K. Slabinski left his Combat Controller (CCT), Master Sergeant John A. Chapman who had been killed by enemy machine gunfire and had multiple wounded in his small 6 person recce team. For the U.S. side, the battle proved the deadliest entanglement of Operation Anaconda, an effort early in the War in Afghanistan to rout al-Qaeda forces from the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains. The battle saw three helicopter landings by the U.S. on the mountain top, each met with direct assault from al-Qaeda forces. Although Takur Ghar was eventually taken, seven U.S. service members were killed and 12 others were wounded. The battle is also known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge, after the first casualty of the battle, Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts.

Read on Wikipedia · Image U.S. Army, Public domain