Task Force 373

Task Force 373  is a formerly secret military .

Task Force 373 is a formerly secret military commando unit active in the War in Afghanistan, made public on Wikileaks on 25 July 2010.[1] The covert operations of the unit were brought into the public domain by the release of the Afghan War Diary. It has been claimed that the unit is stationed at Camp Marmal, the German field base in Mazar-e-Sharif.[2]




The leaked information shows that Task Force 373 uses at least three bases in Afghanistan, in Kabul, Kandahar and Khost. Although it works alongside special forces from Afghanistan and other coalition nations, it appears to be drawing its own troops from particularly the US Special Mission Units controlled by the Joint Special Operations कमांड.
Operations


Commanded by Army Brigadier General Raymond Palumbo[4], the unit's operations have been reported to include assassination or extrajudicial killing missions.[2] However, prisoners were taken - leaked information includes at least 62 instances of detainee transfers where the source of the detainee is stated as being "TF 373".



In an article datelined July 25, 2010, the online guardian.co.uk reported that "In many cases, the unit has set out to seize a target for internment, but in others it has simply killed them without attempting to capture. The logs reveal that TF 373 has also killed civilian men, women and children and even Afghan police officers who have strayed into its path." The website also stated that "Details of more than 2,000 senior figures from the Taliban and al-Qaida are held on a "kill or capture" list, known as Jpel, the joint prioritised effects list."[1]



However, The New York Times reported, also on July 25, a much lower number of total targets, stating "Secret commando units like Task Force 373 — a classified group of Army, Navy, and Marine special operatives — work from a “capture/kill list” of about 70 top insurgent commanders. These missions, which have been stepped up under the Obama administration, claim notable successes, but have sometimes gone wrong, killing civilians and stoking Afghan resentment."[5]



References

^ a b Davies, Nick (25 July 2010). "Afghanistan war logs: Task Force 373 – special forces hunting top Taliban". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/25/task-force-373-secret-afghanistan-taliban. Retrieved 27 July 2010.

^ a b Gebauer, Matthias; Goetz, John; Hoyng, Hans; Koelbl, Susanne; Rosenbach, Marcel; Schmitz, Gregor Peter (26 July 2010). "US Elite Unit Could Create Political Fallout for Berlin". Der Spiegel. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html. Retrieved 27 July 2010.

^ 'Afghanistan war logs: Task Force 373 – special forces hunting top Taliban' http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/07/25/afghanistan-war-logs-task-force-373-special-forces-hunting-top-taliban.html

^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/jul/25/afghanistan-us-military#/?picture=365171662&index=13

^ "View Is Bleaker Than Official Portrayal of War in Afghanistan". The New York Times. 25 July 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26warlogs.html?_r=2. Retrieved 27 July 2010.

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Categories: Special forces of the United States
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
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