In that moment when U.S. President Donald Trump stood at a press conference with his senior generals and ministers to narrate the story of the capture of the Venezuelan president, he began by praising the U.S. military’s special force, Delta Force. He described it as the best-trained, fastest, and most effective force on earth, claiming that in a stunning operation, they captured the Venezuelan leader and his wife alive without causing them any harm.
Here it should be recalled that this same U.S. military unit, in the early days of the invasion of Afghanistan, also attempted a similar operation to capture the late Mullah Sahib in Kandahar. As for what happened to the force that Trump describes as the world’s best-trained while in Afghanistan, let us turn the pages of the third Omar book, which on page 268 states:
Just as the Americans targeted Mullah Sahib’s house and him in the early days of the invasion, they also carried out their first special operation against him through special forces. On October 20, the U.S. military, to kill or capture him alive, raided a building on the outskirts of Kandahar city that Mullah Sahib used both as a residence and as the seat or office of the Emirate. According to American sources, during this operation, carried out by U.S. Delta Force, about one hundred American commandos were first landed at a non-functional airstrip in the Reg area, roughly 60 miles southwest of Kandahar city, to assist the troops conducting the operation on Mullah Sahib’s house if needed.
Later that same night, a second group of Delta Force and commandos, numbering more than one hundred personnel, raided Mullah Sahib’s house near Kandahar city. They disembarked from helicopters around the house. First, the commandos and the circling helicopters fired thousands of rounds to eliminate any potential threat. However, the Mujahideen guarding Mullah Sahib’s house did not initially resist. They knew that the house had been evacuated, and even if the Americans entered, they would gain nothing. Moments later, as supporting Mujahideen also arrived in the area from Kandahar city, they suddenly launched an attack on the Americans.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, writing about this operation in his investigative article and quoting American commandos, states:
“When we were in the process of withdrawing, the Taliban unleashed hell on us. They launched a surprise attack; they attacked with light weapons and RPGs. The Taliban were throwing hand grenades as if they had an unlimited supply. The special forces unit was forced into retreat and defensive fighting because the Taliban had the upper hand. The Delta battalion suffered damage and several of its members were wounded. The soldiers were split into groups; in accordance with military principles, smaller groups dispersed around the area to allow the larger groups a chance to escape. At that time, the combat helicopters fired indiscriminately on the house of Mullah Sahib. Delta Force, the commandos, and the troops who had arrived as reinforcements all fled in a state of panic. During the chaotic retreat, the tires of a Chinook helicopter struck a hill and were damaged. We had made extensive preparations for this operation. We thought that once we arrived there, we would perform magic, but after the Taliban’s attack it became clear to us that we were not magicians.”
As the American journalist admits, the Americans had indeed carefully calculated all precautionary measures in their very first raid and had selected their most experienced (Delta Force) for the operation. Yet on the ground, they achieved nothing and gained no results. Later, the Taliban showed the media the damaged tires of the American helicopter and a pistol left behind by the special forces, which testified to the panicked retreat of the American commandos.
By: Abdul Sathar Saeed
