Mission Overview | Mission Detail | Chronology Satellite Imagery | Tactical | Discuss

Mission 22 -Detail
Dai Chopan: The Taliban Trap

Dai Chopan, Afghanistan. June 8, 2004: An onslaught of 100 Taliban fighters attacks the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit as they approach a suspected ambush site in the mountains of Afghanistan.

It is the motherland of Taliban. As many as 800 militant fighters are believed to be hiding in the Zabul province of Afghanistan, a terrorist Mecca that envelops the dusty village of Dai Chopan. The town is earning a venomous reputation. More than 40 insurgents are killed during the past week alone, and brutal battles in the town last August left more than 100 Taliban dead, along with a US special operations member. In Dai Chopan, the Taliban are resourceful, powerful, and plentiful.

Military officials estimate 700 Taliban fighters—trained and funded in Peshawar and Quetta, Pakistan—have successfully crossed the border into Afghanistan. Al Qaeda and the Taliban readily await the arrival of fresh recruits to band with its native insurgents, those persuaded to rise against the US military with offers of motorbikes, assault rifles, and satellite telephones for robbing or bombing a government target. A successful hit is worth $265. Murder will earn the culprit a $1,200 bonus. In villages with virtually no jobs, Taliban money is the only replacement for lost profits from the grape farms left fruitless after a devastating seven-year drought.

Monetary incentives, coupled with the permeable Pakistani border, seem to be working in the Taliban’s favor. In about one-third of Afghanistan’s southern regions, the terrorists have successfully regrouped, attacking the US and its allies throughout the country. Military personnel are the obvious targets, but government officials and charity workers are also considered the enemy. Taliban commanders issue death warrants against any journalist entering the Zabul province, which includes Dai Chopan, making it clear that no one is welcome and no one is safe.

Perhaps the Taliban’s greatest successes have been the blind attacks on non-military personnel: police officers with scarce weaponry and aid workers with no guns at all. The Taliban claims responsibility for this month’s death of five humanitarians from Doctors Without Borders—people working for a cause so dignified it received the Nobel Peace Prize. In the past six months, 38 charitable aid workers have died at the hands of insurgents. The violence is rampant and escalating and with upcoming national elections, police officers and UN workers are of particular interest to the terrorists.

Afghanistan’s democratic vote is a process the Taliban is fiercely opposed to. Classifying the elections as nothing more than the United States’ attempt to legitimize rule in the country, Taliban violence soars as the summer election date nears. The Marines struggle to provide security, but the terrorists launch repeated attacks on isolated Afghan government posts and UN registration sites on a weekly basis. It is an effective Taliban tactic. With workers and voters in fear for their lives, the ballot slated for June suffers a four-month delay.

The Marines initiate an aggressive operation to stop the attacks, one which involves ensnaring the Taliban at their own ambush sites. The MEU plans to lead a convoy to the covert position and launch a surprise offensive, but en route, the Marines are ambushed by an overwhelming mob of some 100 Taliban. Even backed by jet fighters, it is a bloody ground battle for the MEU against dozens upon dozens of dedicated killers through unforgiving terrain.

On the surface, it’s the stuff of storybooks. America’s heroes—the symbols of all that is good and brave and right—battle the forces of evil: the cave-dwelling enemy with a thirst for blood. But it is no fairytale in Afghanistan. This is true. This is life for the Marines. And this is their mission.