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NOTE: This article is about ArmA 2: OA's storyline conflict that is also titled as "Operation Arrowhead". For the campaign of the same name, see Operation Arrowhead (campaign). |
Operation Arrowhead (2012) was a three-day war that was fought in the Green Sea nation of Takistan. It was fought between UN-mandated NATO forces and the Takistani regime of Colonel Muhammad Aziz.
Background[]
On April 17th, 2012, Takistani pro-Royalist tribes; rumoured to have been supported by CIA operatives seeking to destabilise the regime of Colonel Muhammad R. Aziz, succeed in significantly damaging the country's crude oil wells and refineries.[1][2]
Well-coordinated raids throughout the nation's key oil fields inflicts a critical blow to the regime's power base. Over 68% of the country's oil wells are sabotaged and leads to the loss of a year's worth of crude oil production. Suddenly finding himself lacking the resources needed to continue his rule, Col. Aziz commences a desperate bid to cling onto his reign.[2]
His government's Socialist Supreme Bureau issues an ultimatum to its neighbour, the nation of Karzeghistan to its south. They threaten to bombard the country with chemical-laden SCUD ballistic missiles if the oil-rich Sharig Plateau; once considered to be an integral part of Takistan, were not returned to the people of Takistan.[2][3]
Both the UN Security Council and neighbouring governments in the region unanimously demand the Takistani regime to retract its ultimatum. Aziz' government refuses to comply with international warnings and the two-month deadline eventually passes unheeded on June 1st, 2012.[1][2][3]
Mandated by the United Nations[4], NATO members conducted their own preparations in the weeks leading up to the fighting as part of Operation Arrowhead in anticipation of the ultimatum's expiry.[2][3][5]
U.S. Marines assembled on the south-eastern coast off Takistan as well as in Chernarus itself; with the authorisation of the Chernarussian government. German/Czech special forces along with U.S. Army and British troops on the other hand, rallied their invasion forces on the country's southern border with Karzeghistan.[2][3][5][6]
Early battles[]
Pre-invasion assassination attempts[]
On June 1st[1], just hours after the deadline's passing, an American 1st SFOD-D team is dispatched to the city of Zargabad in the early hours of the morning.[3][7] Several other officials, including Aziz' close advisers and military leaders, are also targeted by other NATO SOF teams throughout the country.[8]
Intelligence sources had confirmed that Col. Aziz was present in the city and was praying at the local mosque.[7] Disguising themselves as civilians and assisted by a local contact, the team were driven into the city and arrived at a spot overlooking the mosque.[9]
However, Aziz leaves the mosque with another officer alongside him.[10] Unable to distinguish the targets properly, the 1st SFOD-D team is eventually compromised, and their cover is blown, forcing the team to flee without confirming their target's death.[11]
Though the attempt against Aziz had failed[12], raids against other senior members of Aziz' command structure were largely successful. The highest profile target to be eliminated by coalition forces was Jafar Karizi, intelligence commander for the Zargabad District. His death would deal a major blow to the Takistani military, and effectively cripple its chances of properly mounting a defence against the invasion.[13]
First phase[]
UN/NATO coalition forces plan of attack.
Despite having failed with their assassination attempt on the Takistani leader, NATO forces proceed with the invasion regardless hours later.[1] The U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, supported by Task Force Queen alongside aircraft from the British Royal Navy, crossed over the border into Takistan and quickly seized the key cities of Karichar and Bandar-e-Ghazmi in the south.[3][14]
Government facilities and military installations were constantly bombarded by a combination of British and American airstrikes.[3][15] The main harbours at Bandar-e-Ghazmi were taken by Royal Marines, while SAS teams seized the port authority building.[14]
Towards the east, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 27th Marine Expeditionary Unit targeted the capital of Takmyr. U.S. Marines from Task Force Bishop crossed over the Chernarussian border as well as from the coast and secured many of the eastern cities.[3]
Takistani counteroffensive[]
The Takistani Army's coastal fleet - consisting of a few gunboats and the light cruiser the Pride of Chalang, managed to inflict light damage upon the 27th MEU's amphibious assault ship, the USS Khe Sanh (LHD-9).[16] The gunboats were sunk in retaliation while the Pride of Chalang was destroyed at the mouth of the Salak Darya river delta by British jets.[17] Task Force Rook was soon cleared to continue its main offensive upon Bandar-e-Ghazmi.
In Karzeghistan, Takistani armoured units temporarily crossed over the border into Shapur and attempted to retake the oil refineries[18] but were immediately repelled by a combination of British and American troops alongside Czech/German special forces.[5][6]
In the capital city of Mazargan, SCUD strikes inflicted damage to the surrounding suburbs. Czech military NBC specialists investigated the impact zones but discovered no traces of chemical compounds within the warheads.[19]
Later stages[]
As midday approached on the first day of the war[1], almost the entirety of Takistan's eastern and southern regions were completely occupied by coalition forces. The Takistani Army, having suffered enormous losses in the initial wave of attacks, were forced to retreat deeper into the central regions of the country.
Aided by Task Force Bishop, the U.S. Army's Task Force Knight prepared to spearhead the second phase of the operation by establishing a forward base north of Takmyr.[20]
Second phase[]
TF Knight commences its attack on Loy Manara.
- Main article: Operation Arrowhead (campaign)
As the Takistani Army continued its flight into the central regions, the U.S. Army's Task Force Knight commenced the second phase of Operation Arrowhead by launching airborne infantry attacks on the airfields south of the region. Their first target was the airfield of Loy Manara which was being used as a logistics base for Takistani forces.[1][21]
The invasion force suffered light casualties during the initial landings[22] but quickly seized the airfield after several minutes of heavy fighting.[23] The nearby villages were subsequently cleared of pro-government militia as well, leaving the airfield clear for TF Knight to reinforce their assault further inland.[24]
Emboldened by the coalition's attacks, anti-government tribes throughout the region also began rising up against the Takistani Army, further weakening Aziz' grip over the country.[25]
A mechanised platoon of tanks and IFVs are assembled to clear the way into the militia-held valleys north of Loy Manara through the Naran Darre pass.[26][27] During the advance, a cargo plane carrying a group of UN aid workers and news reporters is shot down by the militia and crashes deep inside the valley area.[1][28]
Takistani Army and militia forces manage to reach the crash site first and capture the remaining survivors. Coalition troops arrive too late to stop them, and the advance northward is temporarily forced to a grinding halt to locate the missing survivors.[29]
A combination of intelligence reports and information from local anti-government tribesmen reveal that the Takistani Army had taken the hostages to a nearby coltan mine close to the city of Ferz Abad.[29] TF Knight launches a diversionary attack on the city a few hours later, while a 1st SFOD-D team searches the nearby mine for signs of the hostages.[1][30]
However, one of the hostages is found dead while the others are nowhere to be seen.[31] The mine is revealed to have been set up as a trap by the Takistani Army[32][33], but the 1st SFOD-D team is able to disarm the explosives in time.[34] In retaliation for the attack on Feruz Abad, the Takistani Army attempts to bombard TF Knight's ground troops with jets from the nearby Rasman airbase. Fortunately for TF Knight, they are intercepted by the 1st SFOD-D team when the latter commandeer anti-aircraft emplacements against the jets.[35]
TF Knight seizes the Rasman airbase.
Later that evening, Rasman itself eventually comes under attack by U.S. forces after they stage a massive air and ground assault against the airbase from multiple outposts to the south.[36][37] An armoured platoon and company of infantry neutralise the airport's defences[38] while special operations teams are able to prevent the destruction of an oil well close to Rasman.[1][39]
The entirety of the Takistani Army's air fleet is subsequently destroyed in the process, and U.S. troops begin to retrofit the airbase into a second staging point to advance further north.[40][41]
Battle for Zargabad[]
Following the capture of Rasman, U.S. intelligence obtained critical information on the whereabouts of the Army's elusive leader, Colonel Muhammad R. Aziz. He had been hiding in his presidential palace at the regional capital of Zargabad following the assassination attempt early in the war.[1][42]
However, they receive word that Aziz had managed to scrounge up three SCUD launchers and was preparing to fuel them for a strike against both coalition bases and neighbouring Karzeghistan.[43] Time was running out quickly and with less than a few hours to spare, TF Knight quickly moved to lay siege upon the city in the morning.[41]
The final Battle for Zargabad begins.
Ground troops struck from the south while a 1st SFOD-D team secured the main airport in the city's west. A flight of attack jets neutralised the city's anti-aircraft defences, leaving the skies clear for the Task Force's attack helicopters to move in. The three launchers are eventually discovered[43] and are quickly destroyed one-by-one by American ground troops.[44]
While clearing the mosque in the centre of the city, a squad of U.S. troops stumbles upon the three survivors of the plane crash from the day before. The soldiers had searched the location after obtaining intel that suggested that the captives had been transferred there.[41][45] The three are found to be alive and well and are quickly shuttled off by reinforcements securing the site.[46]
With the hostages now secured[46] and the remaining SCUD launchers also destroyed by American troops[47], Aziz' main threat was effectively dismantled. All that remained now was the Colonel himself.
American forces surrounded the Colonel's compound and succeeded in cutting off his avenues of escape. The Colonel refused to capitulate to coalition forces however and was subsequently gunned down after a brief but fierce firefight between his elite bodyguards and U.S. troops.[48][49][note 1]
Cleanup operations[]
On June 3rd[1], coalition intelligence pinpointed the location of the Takistani Army's final group of SCUD launchers hidden in the central highlands.[50]
Takistani forces had hoped to launch a last ditch retaliatory strike on both allied troops and neighbouring Karzeghistan in spite of the Army's defeat at Zargabad.[50] However, the SCUDs were intercepted by British SAS during the night and the launchers were promptly destroyed, decisively eliminating the last of Aziz' threat to the region.[51]
Aftermath[]
With the downfall of Aziz' regime, the safety of the region had been secured from his tyranny - at least for the time being.
The commander of TF Knight, Colonel C.F. Kane, reported on the coalition's total victory and the discovery of the remaining survivors to the global media.[52] A civilian-led government would soon be established under the auspices of the intervention force.[53][54] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also pledged a total of $4.35 billion USD in aid to support Takistan's reconstruction efforts over a period of three years.[55]
Within a matter of weeks however, remnants of the Takistani Army banded together with their militia allies and began to fight once more against both Western forces and the newly established government in Takmyr. For the coalition, their focus now shifted to counterinsurgency operations and stabilising the war-torn central and western regions of the country.[56] To counter the remnant Army's uprising, a NATO troop surge is authorised, and additional British military forces are flown in to assist in the counteroffensive.[57]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 For unknown reasons, the official Armaverse Timeline erroneously states that Aziz was captured by NATO forces while attempting to flee from the city, directly contradicting all of Operation Arrowhead's endings as well the prologue for Operation Crimson Lance. No further mention of Aziz' survival is brought up in post-Operation Arrowhead/Crimson Lance news reports, nor for the events of Operation Black Gauntlet. Therefore, for the sake of consistency, this article assumes that Aziz canonically remains deceased.
References[]
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See also[]
| Armaverse conflicts | |
|---|---|
| 1980s | Soviet occupation of Nogova (1982) • Malden Islands Crisis (1985) • Takistan Civil War (1988-1992) |
| 2000s | Sahrani Conflict (2006) • Chernarussian Civil War (2009) |
| 2010s | Operation Arrowhead (2012) • Operation Crimson Lance (2012) |
| 2020s | Altian Civil War (2026-2030) |
| 2030s | Altis Incident (2035) |
| NOTE: Conflicts fought in spin-off titles, non-canon expansions/DLCs, lone skirmishes between isolated groups or conflicts without significant details are deliberately excluded. | |