Combat· Afghanistan War (Op ENDURING FREEDOM)
Zhawar Kili Cave Complex
Zhawar Kili was a vast cave and tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan, a former mujahideen base that al-Qaeda and the Taliban had used as a training, storage, and command site, which Marines and other forces moved to exploit and destroy after the regime's fall.
The Marines conducted a sensitive-site exploitation of the sprawling complex, searching the caves and bunkers for intelligence, weapons, and signs of the enemy, then calling in the systematic destruction of the fortifications and the enormous stores of munitions they contained. The operation aimed to deny the enemy the use of one of his most developed base areas and to gather information on al-Qaeda's networks and capabilities. Clearing Zhawar Kili was a major exploitation effort rather than a pitched battle, the painstaking and hazardous work of searching and demolishing a hardened complex. It reflected the campaign's shift toward rooting out the enemy's infrastructure once the Taliban regime had collapsed.
Record no. 783