“Iron Triangle” Operation is Successfully Ongoing in Eastern Afghanistan

KABUL: (Middle East Press) Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police forces again demonstrated their ability to work together as a national security force this time during combat operations in eastern Afghanistan.

Together, the ANA and ANP, along with other forces to include the Afghan National Civil Order Police, Afghan Uniformed Police, Afghan Local Police and air support from the Afghan Air Force, conducted a clearing operation designed to disrupt networks of Taliban and other enemies of Afghanistan in Khogyani, Sherzad and Hisarak districts. In addition to clearing the districts of enemy forces, the ANDSF goal is to provide continued security for the area, which in turn will allow for better governance to the people.

The operation, termed “Iron Triangle,” demonstrated the capability of the Afghan forces when conducting offensive cross-pillar operations, to find and clear areas known to be occupied by Taliban forces.

“There’s been great cooperation between the army and the police. They’ve come together for decisions about what to do, and then they employ the right tool to have the best possible effect, whether it’s an army tool or a police tool,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, Resolute Support’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. “This is probably the best we’ve seen this level of cooperation of any operation to date this year.”

Afghan Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior leadership planned and executed the operation together, with the coalition in the back seat acting in a train, advise and assist role.

“The advisors play a critical role in the success in this operation , but it’s not to make things happen, what we want to do is ask leading questions, help the Afghans think about the best way to synchronize their efforts to achieve the best possible effect,” said Buchanan.

The units participating in the operation along with Afghan National Police were the 111th Capital division, the 201st Corps, and the 203rd Corps.

“They were very successful. This is the first Corps-level operation for the 201st Corps this year. The Corps headquarters established a command and control echelon here [ANA Camp Khugyani],” said Col. J.B. Vowell, the Deputy Commander of Train, Advise, Assist Command – East, which provided the main advising effort for the operation.  They integrated combined arms during the operation … artillery, air engineers … they’ve found and cleared over 150 IEDs and been able to maintain their time tables.”

In addition to the large number of IEDs cleared throughout the operation, other successes included the reconstruction of damaged roads, as well as the successful use of artillery. Overall, more than 50 kilometers of road and towns were cleared of insurgent activity from Khogyani to Sherzad into Hisarak.

While the corps had initially planned for the operation to take nearly three weeks, the quick movements of the ANDSF allowed them to reach the Hisarak district center more than three days earlier than expected.

“The plan is once the area of Hisarak is cleared we’ll organize another tribal leader meeting, and talk about the peace for the future in the area,” said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Zaman Waziri, the 201st Corps Commander. “In the last 14 years, there have been no operations in this area … this is the first time for joint operations here. Our main objective is Hisarak, it is a strategic district. The enemies in the area come from Pakistan into Hisarak, from here they deploy into Kabul.”

Therefore, the clearing of this area will not only provide security for the local population in the districts, but also additional security for the capital city of Kabul. With the recent up-tick of attacks in the city, this operation plays a major strategic role in securing the city and preventing high-profile attacks.  While the majority of the focus was in eastern Nangarhar, ANDSF did not ignore the emergence of Daesh and Taliban clashes in the west.