Ahmad Shah

Who was Ahmad Shah?

Ahmad Shah was a local who commanded a group of fighters operating in eastern Afghanistan and was linked to Gulbadin Hekmatyar.

Ahmad Shah was from the Kuz Kunar District of Nangarhar Province. His full name was "Ahmad Shah Dara-I-Nur" meaning "Ahmad Shah of the Valley of the Enlightened Ones". While he was not part of the Taliban, he sought allegiance with them. He was most closely associated with Gulbadin Hekmatyar. He led a heavily armed group of Anti-Coalition Militia fighters who ambushed a small team of four U.S. Navy SEALs and then shot down an MH-47 helicopter dispatched as part of a quick reaction force for the SEALs, killing a total of 19 U.S. special operations personnel during Operation Red Wings in late June 2005. The Marine Battalion that conceived and planned Operation Red Wings, the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment developed the operation to disrupt Anti-Coalition Militia activity in the Pech District of the Kunar Province with a focus on Shah, who through human intelligence and signals intelligence they determined had a force of up to 200 fighters under his command.