Ahmad Shah (1970-2008) was a high-ranking Taliban leader who commanded a group of insurgents known as the "Mountain Tigers", operating in eastern Afghanistan and the Hindu-Kush mountains.

The target for Operation Red Wing

Operation Red Wing

Operation Red Wings was a failed counter-insurgent mission in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, involving four members of the United States Navy SEALs, which took place on June 28, 2005....

, Shah survived the American operation but was killed during a shootout with Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April 2008. His most famous battle was when his unit of around 80-200 men killed a total of 19 U.S. Special Operations operators. This included three of the four SEALs in Operation Red Wing

Operation Red Wing

Operation Red Wings was a failed counter-insurgent mission in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, involving four members of the United States Navy SEALs, which took place on June 28, 2005....

 and an additional eight SEALs along with eight Army "Nightstalker" Commandos who died when their MH-47 helicopter was shot down during the attempted rescue of the four Navy SEALs who started the Red Wing mission. Marcus Luttrell

Marcus Luttrell

Marcus Luttrell is a former Petty Officer First Class and United States Navy SEAL. He received the Navy Cross for his actions in 2005 facing Taliban fighters during Operation Red Wing.-Early life:...

 was the only survivor.

Afghan Civil War

Commander Ismail initially fought against the Taliban and al Qaeda in 2001. But he eventually switched sides and later became a key facilitator for foreign fighters traversing and operating in the challenging terrain of the northeast.

Operation Red Wings

On June 28, 2005, US Navy SEALS mounted an unsuccessful operation to capture or kill Shah. Of the four SEALS, three were killed by a belligerent force of about 8-10 Taliban. A team of 16 SEALs and Nightstalkers sent to extract

Extraction (military)

Extraction , in tactical combat and special operations use, is the process of removing constituents from a targeted site when it is considered imperative that they be immediately relocated out of a hostile environment and taken to a secured area under friendly control...

 the overwhelmed SEAL team were killed when their Chinook

CH-47 Chinook

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its top speed of 170 knots is faster than contemporary utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s...

 helicopter took a hit from a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). In an interview with Lisa Myers

Lisa Myers

Lisa Myers is the senior investigative correspondent for NBC Nightly News.A 1973 graduate of the University of Missouri's Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri, she joined NBC in 1981. From 1979 to 1981, Myers was White House correspondent for The Washington Star...

, Mohammad Ismail maintained that his forces set a trap for the American forces.