This campaign ultimately developed into a costly stalemate, as the Canadians lacked the forces required to clear the Taliban from the area decisively. While the Taliban continued to target the Canadians in Zhari and Panjwai in and , they organized and conducted a campaign to advance on Kandahar City from the north. The objective of this campaign was the Arghandab district, located just north of Kandahar City.
Arghandab would be an ideal safehaven from which insurgents could project their power into the provincial capital. Arghandab, however, was initially geographically defensible and politically hostile to the Taliban.
The Arghandab district was the homeland of the Alokozai tribe, over which Mullah Naqib, the key Alokozai tribal leader, had exercised strong control since the s. Mullah Naqib opposed Taliban rule after In preparation for their attack on Arghandab, the Taliban maneuvered into Khakrez district during the spring and summer of Control of Khakrez linked several key Taliban positions in western and northern Kandahar and allowed resources from each of these fronts to move into Arghandab district.
The Taliban launched their initial attack into Arghandab in October , after the natural death of Mullah Naqib. This assault marked the beginning of an intense campaign to erode the will of the population in Arghandab to resist Taliban control. The Taliban had solidified their control of Arghandab and other key areas surrounding Kandahar City by late , allowing them to project force into the provincial capital.
The Panjwayi and Zhari districts are key territory because many of the Taliban's leaders are landowners there. This is their center of gravity and the birthplace of their movement.
So they are essentially fighting for their homeland in every sense of the word. It is here that the extra troops matter the most. This summer, the key battles and in some way the fate of the war will be decided on this same battlefield. I am often asked what I think we should do in Afghanistan.
I have my opinions. But when I put on my uniform every morning, that opinion doesn't matter. I know only one thing: my mission was to go to southern Afghanistan, disrupt the Taliban, and assist the Afghan people in building a country.
Do troop levels matter? Every soldier, every commander, wants the best equipment and the most men. But I'll worry about troop levels when I have stars on my uniform. Right now my job is to execute the orders of those who do.
Includes a new Afterword by the authors One of the most critical battles of the Afghan War is now revealed as never before. Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat there. Southern Afghanistan was slipping away. That was clear to then-Captain Rusty Bradley as he began his third tour of duty there in The Taliban and their allies were infiltrating everywhere, poised to reclaim Kandahar Province, their strategically vital onetime capital.
The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds that doubled neatly as enemy bunkers, lush orchards, and towering marijuana stands, all laced with treacherous irrigation ditches.
A mass exodus of civilians heralded the carnage to come. Key to relieving it and calling in effective air strikes was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Now Bradley recounts the whole remarkable story as it actually happened. Ramil Sabitov. Mikhail Vladimirov. Andrey Kavun. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Russian transport aircraft IL, carrying a cargo of ammunition under the guise of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan from Albania, forced to put interceptors at Kandahar Airfield Afghanistan for inspection.
Captured by the Taliban appeared Russian crew: the aircraft commander, copilot, flight engineer, navigator and radio operator. Aviators who refused to teach Islamists piloting transport aircraft, placed in a dilapidated house-prison. The crew endures the hardships of captivity: all five are firmly convinced that Russia, utilizing diplomatic channels and its influence in the world, will release its citizens. However, many months pass, and, except for periodic visits of diplomats and journalists, no change occurs.
Having gone through a series of hardships and humiliations, having been on the verge of death, the film's heroes realize that the only way to salvation - Escape! Based on true story. Add content advisory. Did you know Edit. User reviews 5 Review. Top review. Actually it's a documentary action movie. And a stressful one though you can wait for a happy end just like in "Flight of the Phoenix" Good make-up, good playing showing a war-time situation.
Baluev did an outstanding job. Sound could be better, sometimes you even can't clearly hear the whispers of the heroes. The story takes place in a part of Afghanistan under Taliban control. Some moments of murder remind us that war is taking place there.
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