Timeline Major operations Airstrikes Major insurgent attacks 2002 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Massacres Other Operation Hammer Down was a seven-day U.S.-led assault offensive in June 2011 designed to eliminate foreign fighters and training camps in the Watapur Valley of Kunar Province in Afghanistan in preparation of an eventual push into the Western Pech area.

The operation's primary objective was to destroy suspected training camps at the northern end of the Watapur in order to interdict the flow of insurgents through the valley and forbid the Taliban from increasing their manpower in the western Pech.

This operation was conducted by the 2nd Battalion 35th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division (Task Force Cacti) as a battalion-wide mission that spread each element throughout the area of operations[1] Along with Afghan National Army soldiers, US forces were dropped off on a high ridgeline by helicopter just before midnight on June 24, 2011.

However, once they got to the evacuation point, the helicopters designated to pick them up couldn't reach them due to harsh weather conditions, so they had to attempt to fix the sandbags and wait.

So, this operation was partially successful, and the US forces significantly impacted the rest of the offensive in the Pech and Watapur Valleys.