A similar development struck Faryab province and the surrounding districts: Having already taken up actions to put the Taliban at rout, Norwegian forces saw themselves increasingly threatened by insurgent activities.

[2] In early 2010 as well, US troops were poured into Northern Afghanistan and Regional Command North upgraded to be led by a major general in the future.

[3] On 2 April 2010, the largest battle since the fall of the Kunduz in 2001 took place when a large group of insurgents attacked 28 German paratroopers in the vicinity of Isa Khel and a nearby Afghan police station.

[4][5] Six Afghan troops were killed by friendly fire when the crew of a German infantry fighting vehicle mistook these reinforcements for insurgents.

[6] The battle of Isa was the most bloody hostile encounter German troops have been involved in since the end of World War II.

[8] A key development toward normalization would be the building of a concrete road linking Char Dara with Quatliam and Isa Khel, under the codename "Little Pluto".

Scouts had learned that in the village Quatliam the support of the Taliban was not as high as in other parts of the area, thus this point would be the main focus of the ground attack.

Afghan militias, supported by 150 American infantry troops, would close the circle from the south, forcing the insurgents to surrender or flee.

[11] Taliban militias attacked coalition troops from Quatliam at dawn, initially with small arms and antitank weapons.

Taliban forces put up fierce resistance along the route between Quatliam and Isa Khel by pounding coalition positions with small arms, rocket propelled grenades and mortars.

The local authorities promised full cooperation with ISAF forces in exchange for Quatliam and the surrounding area being supplied with electric power.

In several occasions, German paratroopers requested artillery fire from the Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzer and close air support from USAF F-15 and F-16 aircraft against hostile mortar positions.

[13] On November 4, the police headquarters in Char Dara were reinforced by additional ISAF forces from Kunduz in order to respond to further insurgent attacks.

During the night, a unit from the training and protection battalion at Mazar-i-Sharif moved to Quatliam to reinforce the troops employed initially and relieve them later.

According to the operational doctrine of the ISAF, this marked the beginning of the "hold" phase, in which the conquered territory is maintained and rebuilt under constant presence of security forces with the support of development and aid organizations.