Taliban Trojan Horse: The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi 2001

In late November 2001, the Northern Alliance and American paramilitary- and special forces have liberated almost the entire north of Afghanistan including the capital Kabul. But the remaining Taliban commanders have one more card to play which results in a multi-day battle in the 19th century fortress Qala-i-Jangi. » THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS Mike Gloudemans, George Durrett, Luis Gonzalez, Mike Cumings, Jr., Charles Shananaquet II, Joel Sanchez, shane cawthon, Andrew Thomas Mooney, Chris Rohde, Bruce D, Jim Frame, Glenn Sugden, Lisa Anderson, George Haramundanis, G S, Kempf Mario, jhgBo8jigr hzufjkl, Gayle Elizabeth, Glenn G Webb, Stephen D Nugent PsyD, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Simen Røste, Amy Williams, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, Josh Bruder, Konstantin Bredyuk, Richard L Benkin, Matt, Rob Carle, Murray Godfrey, Jan, Gage Manthey, Theodore Patrick Shannon, Bruce G. Hearns, Stephanie Schindhelm, Paul Wilcox, Brad Durbin, Fogeltje, » SOURCES Bernsten, Gary and Ralph Pezzullo “Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander” Crown, 2005. Briscoe, Charles H. and Richard L. Kiper, James A. Schroder, Kalev I. Sepp “Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan” Combat Studies Institute Press, 2003 Harnden, Toby. “First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11” Little, Brown and Company, 2021 Malkasian, Carter. “The American War in Afghanistan: A History” Oxford University Press, 2021 Morell, Michael (Host). “DECLASSIFIED: Former CIA Officer on the Anniversary of the First American Casualty in Afghanistan” Intelligence Matters Podcast November 25, 2020. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-cia-officer-talks-first-us-casualty-in-afghanistan/ Perry, Alex. “Inside the Battle at Qala-I-Jangi“ TIME Magazine, Dec 1, 2001. Inside the Battle at Qala-I-Jangi Perry, Walter L. & David Kassing. “Toppling the Taliban: Air-Ground Operations in Afghanistan, October 2001-June 2002” RAND Corporation, 2015 »CREDITS Presented by: Jesse Alexander Written by: Jesse Alexander Director: Toni Steller Editing: Toni Steller Motion Design: Matěj Procházka Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com Research by: Florian Wittig, Michael Adato Fact checking: Florian Wittig Executive Producer: Florian Wittig Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster Qala-i-Jangi combat footage by: Dodge Billingsley Contains additional licensed material by getty images, picture alliance, and Reuters, and AP Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3 Music Library: Epidemic Sound All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image. All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2026