Janikhel offensive

Janikhel offensive
	Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), Taliban insurgency, Operation Omari
	; Janikhel District (cyan) within the Paktia Province.
Date	10 August – 5 September 2016; (3 weeks and 5 days)
Location	Janikhel District, Paktia Province, Afghanistan
Result	Afghan government victory
Belligerents
Afghanistan Afghan National Army; Afghan National Police; Local pro-government militia ; Supported by:; Resolute Support Mission United States;	Taliban Haqqani network; Supported by:; Pakistan ISI (government claim);
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Rahman Zurmati; (Janikhel governor)	Taliban district chief of Janikhel †; Hafiz Rashid †; (Pakistani Taliban commander)
Strength
Local garrison 90–150 soldiers and policemen; c. 100 militiamen; Unknown number of soldiers during the counter-attack	1,200 (government claim)
Casualties and losses
27–30 soldiers and policemen killed, many wounded (government claim); 48 killed (Taliban claim)	130–320 killed (government claim)

The Janikhel offensive was launched by the Taliban and the Haqqani network in early August 2016 to conquer the Janikhel District within the contested Paktia Province from government forces. Due to the district's geographic location, it is of great strategic and tactical value to any force that controls it. After being besieged by insurgents for weeks and not receiving any outside help, the local government forces retreated from the district on 27 August. Even though the district was retaken by the government on 5 September, the fact that the district had been captured by the Taliban in the first place was widely considered a heavy blow for the government, which faced increasing insecurity and loss of territory since the ISAF retreat in 2014.

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