Operation Oqab
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| Operation Oqab | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Islamic Jihad Union | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 General Ali Murat | Maulavi Abdul-Rahman; Abdul-Salam Baryalai; Shamsuddin Shamsullah; Bashir Haqqani; Mulla Abdul-Raziq; Qari Abdul-Wadoud; Inayatullah Zadran | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
800 soldiers 100 police officers  300 advisors : U.S Air ForceTotal: 1,200 | 300 insurgents | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
26 killed 64 wounded |
20 killed (NATO claim) 2 wounded 2 captured | ||||||
Operation Oqab (Eagle in English, Adler in German) was a military operation conducted by ISAF and Afghan National Army troops, in July 2009, with the objective to force the Taliban out of Kunduz Province.
Since April 2009, the German forces in northern Afghanistan had been under pressure from the Taliban and the Islamic Jihad Union. The attack on the German forces after the visit of chancellor Angela Merkel on April 7, 2009, and the following months showed that the Taliban and their allies exerted heavy pressure to try to force the German troops out of Afghanistan, since involvement in the conflict has been controversial in Germany.
The ISAF and Afghan forces began an offensive to reinforce the control and security of Kunduz Province before the Afghan presidential election in August 2009, and reduce pressure on the German forces before the German federal election in September. A second focus was to free the routes into Afghanistan from Uzbekistan, since it was planned to change the supply routes for ISAF to a route from Uzbekistan.
The ISAF planned to change its focus to rebuilding, after the Taliban had left the province.
For the attack, 800 Afghan soldiers and 100 Afghan policemen were placed in the province.[1] The Bundeswehr prepared its Quick Reaction Force (QRF), equipped with Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Fuchs and Dingo APCs, as well as mortars. The ground troops were supported by the United States Air Force (USAF) and its MQ-1 Predator and Fairchild A-10 close air support aircraft.[2]
