Helmand province campaign

Helmand province campaign
	Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
	; American and British soldiers patrolling through a town in Helmand Province, 2007
Date	June 4, 2006 – 2014
Location	Helmand province, Afghanistan
Result	Both sides claim victory
Belligerents
ISAF List United Kingdom ; United States ; Denmark ; Canada ; Georgia (2009–2014) ; Netherlands ; Estonia ; France ; Albania; Islamic Republic of Afghanistan	Taliban Quetta Shura Local tribes and militias
Commanders and leaders
ISAF Major General John A. Toolan; List Task Force Helmand ; Ed Butler / Charlie Knaggs ; Jerry Thomas ; John Lorimer ; Andrew Mackay ; Mark Carleton-Smith ; Gordon Messenger ; Tim Radford ; James Cowan ; Task Force Leatherneck ; Lawrence D. Nicholson ; Regional Command Southwest ; Richard P. Mills ; John A. Toolan; Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Murad Ali Murad; Mohammad Gulab Mangal; List Assadullah Wafa ; Mahaiddin Ghori;	Taliban Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (POW); Mullah Dadullah †; Mullah Bakht Mohammed (POW); Mullah Akhtar Osmani †; Mullah Abdul Qassim; Mullah Abdul Ghafour †; Mullah Abdullah Zakir;
Strength
ISAF; 27,000 (July 2010); List 9,500 (United Kingdom) ; 8,500 (United States) ; 1,561 (Georgia) ; 700 (Denmark) ; 500 (Canada) ; 200 (Netherlands) ; 100 (Estonia); Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; 8,000 (ANA)	Taliban 8,000-9,000 (Taliban claim); 3,000 (independent estimate)
Casualties and losses
ISAF; 1,178 killed; List United States: 685 killed ; United Kingdom: 415 killed ; Denmark: 36 killed ; Georgia: 26 killed ; Estonia: 8 killed ; Canada: 3 killed ; France: 2 killed ; Netherlands: 1 killed ; Poland: 1 killed ; Czech Republic: 1 killed; ; Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; 4,000 killed	Taliban; 7,000 killed (2006-2008), 25,000 killed (2009-2014)

The Helmand province campaign was a series of military operations conducted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces against Taliban insurgents and other local groups in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Their objective was to control a province that was known to be a Taliban stronghold, and a center of opium production. None of the ISAF's intended strategic and political objectives were achieved in the long term.

The deployment of international, mostly British, forces was part of the stage three expansion of the ISAF mandate, to cover the southern regions of Afghanistan. Until then Helmand province had seen only a limited coalition presence.

In the spring of 2008, a battalion of U.S. Marines arrived to reinforce the British presence. In the spring of 2009, 11,000 additional Marines poured into the province, the first wave of President Obama's 21,000 troop surge into Afghanistan.

On June 19, 2009, the British Army (with ISAF and ANA forces) launched Operation Panther's Claw and on July 2, 2009, US Marines launched Operation Khanjar, both major offensives into the province in hopes of securing the region before the Afghanistan presidential elections and turning the tide of the insurgency there.

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