Operation Rhino

Operation Rhino
Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Ranger parachute drop on objective "Rhino."
Date 19–20 October 2001 (1 day) Location Kandahar, Afghanistan 30°29'12.0"N 64°31'32.0"E / 30.48741,64.5319837, 3480m ASL Result U.S. victory
Belligerents
United States	Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Taliban
Commanders and leaders
General Tommy Franks (Commander, USCENTCOM) Lieutenant General Dell Dailey (Commander, JSOC) Colonel Joseph Votel (Commander, 75th Ranger Regiment) Lieutenant Colonel Stefan Banach (Commander, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment)	Mullah Omar (not present)
Strength
200 Army Rangers Joint Medical Augmentation Unit team	Unknown
Casualties and losses
No casualties in the operation, 2 killed in a helicopter crash while on standby for CSAR.	11 killed (allegedly)

Operation Rhino was a Joint Special Operations Command raid by several special operations units, including the United States Army's 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment and the 75th Ranger Regiment (Regimental Reconnaissance Company and 3rd Ranger Battalion), on several Taliban targets in and around Kandahar, Afghanistan during the invasion of Afghanistan.^[1] The mission was an airfield seizure in support of a Delta Force raid on the nearby home of Mullah Omar; though intelligence suggested that perhaps neither location was occupied. Ultimately though both locations turned out to be largely empty, the operations were successfully completed, and provided substantial propaganda footage for the U.S. throughout the early war; though at the cost of two Rangers supporting the operation killed in a helicopter crash nearby in Pakistan.