On August 6, 2011, a quick reaction force (QRF) aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was dispatched from Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan’s Logar Province. They were on their way to support U.S. Army Rangers on a kill-or-capture mission against a senior Taliban official. It was carrying 30 U.S. military members, mostly American special operators.
Extortion 17 Was Sent on a High-Risk Mission in Afghanistan
But the transport, callsign Extortion 17, was shot down before it could land the QRF, making it the largest single loss of life for the International Security Assistance Force during the War in Afghanistan.
It was a high-risk, high-reward mission. Qari Tahir was a senior Taliban fighter and the leader of the Taliban’s forces in the Tangi Valley, which borders Logar and Wardak Provinces. When the United States got wind that Tahir might have been operating out of an abandoned U.S. combat outpost in the valley, the Army dropped 47 Rangers to mount an assault. Watching over them were two AH-64 Apache helicopters, an AC-130 gunship, and other intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft.
As the Rangers made their approach to Tahir’s alleged compound, ISR assets noticed a gathering force of Taliban fighters who left the base and rallied nearby. Worries began to mount that Tahir himself was leading the external group of fighters, so the QRF commander launched his reserves of Navy SEALs and other special operators to support the Rangers.
Extortion 17 Was Shot Down in a Devastating Taliban Ambush
While the QRF prepared to depart, the Taliban in the Tangi Valley had split into two groups. One kept watch among the trees, while the other moved into a building more than a mile away from the original target compound. The Apache helicopters moved to keep a watch over the two groups.
Two helicopters took off from FOB Shank after 2 a.m. local time; one would serve as a decoy, while the other would drop troops into the area.
It took Extortion 17 fewer than 15 minutes to arrive near the drop site in Tangi. It radioed its status back to FOB Shank when it was one minute away, then slowed down and dropped altitude. But neither Chinook nor the ISR assets noticed another, previously unseen group of Taliban insurgents in the area of the landing zone.
Extortion 17 Was the Deadliest Loss in Afghanistan
From a nearby building, they fired rocket-propelled grenades at Extortion 17, destroying its tail rotor and sending it crashing to Earth. After hitting the ground, the helicopter exploded, killing everyone aboard. In a tragic coda to the event, the Rangers secured the compound just six minutes after the crash. With prisoners in hand, they moved toward the crash site, where they found no survivors.
In all, 38 troops were aboard Extortion 17, loaded into one Chinook to expedite their departure. The group included Navy SEALs, Air Force pararescuemen and combat controllers, Afghan commandos, an interpreter, the pilot and crew of the transport, and one military working dog. Qari Tahir, who threatened the local population and set roadside bombs to attack U.S. troops, was killed by an airstrike in Wardak Province less than 30 days later.
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