page_title: Battle of Boz Qandahari
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Boz Qandahari / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Army Green Berets of 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and their Afghan partner force, transport wounded soldiers through a hot landing zone to a waiting medical evacuation helicopter while a determined enemy force continues to attack during the Battle of Boz Qandahari, Afghanistan on Nov. 3, 2016. The folded American flag, which was on the MEDEVAC helicopter that day, was later given to the unit in memory of two Green Berets who were killed in action during that all-night battle.
context_page_description: The Battle of Boz Qandahari occurred on 3 November 2016, in the village of Boz Qandahari, on the western outskirts of the Afghan city of Kunduz, between Afghan National Army Commandos alongside United States Army Special Forces against Taliban insurgents.
context_section_description: The fighting broke out during a training mission conducted between a joint Afghan and United States patrol. The objective was to disrupt Taliban activities in Kunduz District, search for high-ranking members planning attacks, and clear out their positions in the immediate area. Afghan forces later reported the target of the mission was Mullah Zia al-Rahman Mutaqi, a senior local Taliban commander who was reported to be having a meeting in Boz Qandahari together with his second-in-command Mullah Zamir.
  According to Ahmad Jawed Salim, an official spokesman for the Afghan National Army in Kunduz Province, the night raid included 14 United States Army Special Forces who were acting on an intelligence tip that a fresh assault on Kunduz was being planned, with Boz Qandahari as its staging point. After the militants cornered the combined U.S.-Afghan patrol in a dead end street, the trapped soldiers were forced to call in airstrikes in order to escape. A spokesman for the United States military in Afghanistan confirmed that after receiving heavy fire 'from multiple directions' in the village of Boz Qandahari, west of Kunduz, service members responded in order to defend themselves, and U.S. Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft were called in to conduct airstrikes as part of the operation, in addition to support from AH-64 Apache helicopters. According to a local Afghan source, the insurgents were successful in initially surrounding the patrol, forcing them to call for air support.
  Two U.S. soldiers were killed during the battle, while two others were injured. Three members of the Afghan Special Forces were also killed, and 5 others were injured. Provincial officials reported at least 26 insurgents were killed (including Mutaqi and Zamir) and 10 others were injured, while coalition air strikes caused the deaths of 32 civilians and wounded 46 more. Many of those killed were women and children, and the toll included four members of Mr. Zamir's family and seven members of Mr. Mutaqi's family.
caption: Green Berets of 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and their Afghan partner force, transport wounded soldiers through a hot landing zone to a waiting medical evacuation helicopter while a determined enemy force continues to attack during the Battle of Boz Qandahari, Afghanistan on November 3, 2016.
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