The Battle of Wanat took place on July 13, 2008, when around 200 Taliban insurgents attacked American troops stationed in the Waygal district of Afghanistan's far eastern Nuristan province. The distant position was primarily defended by United States Army soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
The Taliban encircled the remote base and its observation post, attacking it from mountains and surrounding farmland. They destroyed much of the US troops' heavy munitions, broke through their lines, and entered the main base before being finally repelled by artillery and aircraft. The US claimed to have killed at least 21 Taliban fighters for nine of its own soldiers killed and 27 wounded, together with four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers wounded.
One of several attacks on remote outposts, the Battle of Wanat has been described as among the bloodiest Taliban attacks of the war. In contrast to previous assaults, from roadside bombings to haphazard ambushes, this attack was well-coordinated; fighters across different insurgent groups were able to precisely target key equipment, such as a wire-guided missile launcher, through a sustained and disciplined effort.
The battle became the focus of debate in the US, generating "... a great deal of interest and scrutiny among military professionals and outside observers ..." mainly due to the relatively "... significant number of coalition casualties ..." Several investigations were launched into events leading up to the battle. The initial investigation was completed in August 2008. In July 2009, Senator James Webb requested that the US Army formally investigate the battle and previous investigation. Lieutenant general Richard F. Natonski conducted another investigation in late 2009 which led to orders of reprimand for the chain of command. In June 2010, the US Army revoked the reprimands. They stated that no negligence was involved and said of the soldiers that "... by their valor and their skill, they successfully defended their positions and defeated a determined, skillful, and adaptable enemy."
Background
In 2008, NATO forces in southeastern Afghanistan deployed sub-company-sized patrols to the Pakistan border to disrupt supplies flowing to the Taliban from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. They established small patrol bases, which came under regular attack by Taliban forces.
In June, a small contingent of 72 troops, 48 American and 24 Afghan, were operating in and around Wanat, that was the center of the Waygal District government and about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the coalition military base Camp Blessing. On July 4, a US Army helicopter attacked vehicles they claimed were firing on them and killed 17 people. Both sides reported Forward Observation Base (FOB) Bella was under attack by indirect fire and small arms fire. The attack occurred in the middle of a multiple day relocation from Bella to Wanat designated Operation Rock Move that left the small base vulnerable. Moving quickly to take advantage, Taliban forces attempted to cut off a squad from the 19th Engineer Battalion that remained at Bella waiting to be extracted to Wanat. Staff sergeant Todd Barfield, Specialist Benjamin Bond, Private first class (Pfc.) Jason Vails, Pfc. Randall Durry and Pfc. Todd Wile, with the help of artillery support from Camp Blessing were able to successfully defend Bella against multiple attacks by Taliban forces. Intelligence reports said that the FOB was going to be overrun from within the base as well. Intelligence received afterwards claimed that the attack was in response to the July 4th helicopter attack that left a reported 17 civilians dead. American Reports claimed that the helicopter attack was in response to the indirect fire received from a mortar tube that was being fired from the bed of a Toyota Hilux pick-up.. The initial Taliban radio transmissions that were intercepted reported that the "... big gun [mortar tube] had been hit ..." and the Taliban commander had been killed. A few hours after the helicopter attacked, with the Chosen Company commander and the troops in contact confirming the targets, the Taliban radio reports changed to "... they killed the shop keeper [that had the same name as the Taliban commander], the big gun was not damaged." Tension between American forces and Afghan Army forces were already high after Sfc. Matthew Kahler was killed by an Afghan Army soldier earlier in January. While the killing was officially ruled an accident, the US soldiers considered it intentional.
Five days before the battle, on July 8, a platoon from the Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team established Vehicle Patrol Base (VPB) Kahler and a separate observation post called OP Top Side near Wanat. 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, departed from Camp Blessing after sunset in a ground assault convoy for the 90-minute-long drive to Wanat. The convoy contained five M1114 armored Humvees. There was one for each of the three rifle squads, a vehicle for platoon headquarters, and the last vehicle containing the TOW missile squad. The Humvees mounted heavy weapons, two with 50-cal machine guns, and two with MK-19 40mm automatic grenade launchers in protected cupolas to provide extra firepower and protection. Their goal was to create a Combat Outpost (COP) to connect with and provide security for the local populace, coordinate $1.4 million in reconstruction projects, and disrupt Taliban activity. The brigade was to be relieved by a newly arriving US Army unit in two weeks.
The patrol base was situated in an open field about 300 meters long by 100 meters wide surrounded on two sides by buildings which composed the Quam. On July 9, a six-man engineer squad arrived by Chinook helicopter. They brought a Bobcat loader and a shipping container with engineering equipment. The soldiers reinforced the base with existing terrain, sandbags, barbed wire, and used the Bobcat to fill a number of HESCO barriers (essentially wall-sized sandbags) around the three squad positions and to create a firing pit for the big 120-mm mortar. However, the Bobcat broke down for one day, and could not lift high enough to place barriers to a 7-foot (2.1 m) height. The barriers were placed at just a 4-foot (1.2 m) level, which would make it vulnerable to direct fire from guns or rockets which the attackers would exploit. The troops dug many of the fortifications and trenches with hand shovels. Still in preparation at the time of the attack, some areas were only protected by a barrier of concertina wire, but with no posts or stakes; the wire was simply stretched out on the ground.
The Afghan company contracted to bring heavy construction equipment delayed its arrival until July 13. It was decided that soldier labor – with the aid of an engineer squad and the Bobcat already at Bella – would be good enough to prepare an initial defense in the six days until heavier equipment arrived. The number of men at the base was judged adequate to defend against intelligence estimates that placed the insurgent forces in the local area at about 150 experienced fighters, though they did not know that attackers would be backed up by other guerrilla groups from neighboring regions as far away as Pakistan and Kashmir. While they thought it was possible the base might be attacked while the camp was being prepared, they thought it unlikely. Platoon sergeant Dzwik later remarked "I was expecting harassing fire from any one of the high ground in every direction. I did not think the village itself would let the AAF [Anti-Afghan Force] turn their village into a battle zone.
Soldiers at the base noticed warning signs, including groups of men watching the construction from the nearby village, which was set at a higher elevation than the outpost, and other groups of men moving through nearby mountains. At a dinner meeting in the village, a villager told the Americans that they should shoot any men seen in the mountains, and asked them if US UAVs were keeping watch nearby. The day before the attack, militants began flowing water through an irrigation ditch feeding an unused field, creating background noise that masked the sounds of the advancing fighters.
Although the Americans believed that 100 or 200 Taliban attacked the base, a senior Afghan defense ministry official who did not reveal his name told Al Jazeera that he had information it was between 400 and 500 fighters. Tamim Nuristani, former governor of Nuristan, believed that numerous Taliban and Pakistani militant and terrorist groups banded together from surrounding regions including Kunar and the Bajaur tribal agency in neighboring Pakistan. According to US intelligence, groups operating in the region included Taliban, al-Qaeda, Kashmir-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistan-based (as of 2013 still located in one of many strongholds in the Bajaur agency of FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Kunar and Nuristan of Afghanistan)) Hezb-i-Islami. According to the Long War Journal, al-Qaeda's senior leadership, including Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, were thought to shelter in the region (Bin Laden was actually in Pakistan at the time). A NATO spokesman believed that the Taliban had moved into and expelled a nearby Khel (small village-tribe subdivision) for the attack. On the evening of July 12, Taliban soldiers moved into Wanat and ordered the villagers to leave. Undetected by ISAF and the ANA, they set up firing positions inside Kors and a mosque next to and overlooking the perimeter.
Battle
About 04:20 on July 13, Taliban forces opened fire on the base with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and mortars. Another 100 militants attacked the observation post from farmland to the east.
The initial attack hit the forward operating base's mortar pit, defended by Sgt. Erich Phillips, Spc. Sergio Abad, Pfc. Scott Stenoski, Sgt. Hector Chavez, Sgt. Israel Garcia PFC Ronnie L Garza and Corporal Jason Hovater, knocking out the 120 mm mortar and detonating the stockpile of mortar ammunition. The insurgents next destroyed the Humvee-mounted TOW missile launcher inside the combat outpost with coordinated fire from unguided RPG rockets. In short order, the base's two heaviest weapons were knocked out, with the subsequent mortar explosion hurling anti-tank missiles into the command base's post.
From the U.S. perspective, Ssgt. David Dzwik and First lieutenant Jonathan Brostrom quickly realized that the most serious situation was the attack concentrated on a small team situated at the small observation post known as "TOPSIDE," defended by Forward Observer Sgt. Ryan M. Pitts, Spc.Tyler Stafford, Spc. Gunnar Zwilling, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers, Spc. Chris Mckaig, Spc. Jason Bogar PFC Garza and Spc. Pruitt Rainey. TOPSIDE sat nestled among rocks under a tree 50m to 70m outside the main base. The first round hit accurately, wounding or stunning every soldier present. Pfc. Tyler Stafford was blown out of his machine-gun position next to Spc. Matthew Phillips and others, who continued to throw grenades at attackers before Phillips was mortally wounded. Cpl. Jason Bogar, fired hundreds of rounds from his automatic weapon until it jammed, before attending to Stafford's wounds. After an RPG wounded Pitts, Bogar applied a tourniquet to his leg, before manning two other machine guns. Bogar then jumped from the outpost bunker to get close enough to kill insurgents who were firing down upon the men from the village hotel. Once outside the bunker, Bogar was shot through the chest and killed. 1Lt. Brostrom and Cpl. Hovater arrived to help defend TOPSIDE. The surviving soldiers then ran from the outpost to the main post, leaving Pitts behind. Alone, Pitts was able to hold-off the Taliban from overrunning the position until their comrades returned two hours later and they were evacuated to receive medical care.
Four US soldiers were killed within the first 20 minutes of the battle — another died later — and at least three others were wounded. Three times, teams of soldiers from the main base ran through Taliban fire to resupply the observation post and carry back the dead and wounded.
The US troops responded with machine guns, grenades, and claymore mines. Artillery guns at Camp Blessing fired 96 155 mm artillery rounds. The Taliban briefly breached the wire of the observation post before being driven back. After almost half an hour of intense fighting at the observation post, Medic Pfc. William Hewitt was shot in the arm with Spc. Jeff Scantlin, trained as a Combat Lifesaver, taking over medic duties. Eventually, only two soldiers Garza — Pitts — remained. They were seriously wounded and fought alone until reinforcements arrived. Some militants also managed to get past the main base's eastern barriers. Two US soldiers, platoon leader 1Lt Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii and Cpl. Jason Hovater, were killed trying to deliver ammunition to the observation post. US soldiers were at times flushed out of their fortifications by what they thought were grenades, but which were actually rocks thrown by the attackers. Brostrom, Hovater, and another soldier may have been killed by an insurgent who penetrated the wire perimeter. Pvt. William Krupa, Spc. Adam Hamby and Sgt. Brian Hissong took heavy fire while defending the TCP with the .50-Cal that was mounted on a Humvee.
AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and a Predator unmanned aircraft drone armed with Hellfire missiles arrived over the base about 30 minutes after the battle began. During the battle, US soldiers were resupplied by UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter with fire support from the AH-64 Apaches. Wounded troops were evacuated to nearby Camp Wright, where members of E Troop, 2/17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division would wait to rearm and refuel the UH-60s and AH-64s. Later, a B-1B Lancer bomber, A-10, and F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft were called in. The militants withdrew about four hours later. After the militants retreated, mop up operations followed, and the Taliban withdrew from the town.