Shkin
Encyclopedia
Shkin is a scattered village in Barmal District
Barmal District
Barmal District is a district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan,near the border with North Waziristan, one of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.According to Syed Saleem Shahzad...

, Paktika Province
Paktika Province
Paktika is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the south-east of the country. Most of the population is Pashtun. Its capital is Sharan.-Political and military situation:...

, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 located about a kilometer west of the newer, much larger, and border-straddling village and bazaar of Angoor Adda. Angoor Adda is controlled by the 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...

 Frontier Guards. As with the area immediately to the north, the Bermel Valley, the region is primarily populated by ethnic Pashtuns who share many of the same characteristics of their neighbors in the South Waziristan Tribal Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...

 of Pakistan.

Soil conditions near Shkin are marginal and only allow for limited agricultural seasonal use. Aside from small apple orchards/farms there is only minimal economic activity. The closest competent health care can be found in Wana
Wana
Wana is the largest town of South Waziristan Agency in Pakistan's FATA . It is the summer headquarters for the Agency's administration, Tank located in neighbouring Tank District being the winter HQ-Colonial history:...

, Pakistan or Kabul. Ethnic tensions between the Kharootis and Waziris remain high in this region. Until recently there were no paved roads in this Bermel Valley region. However, with the construction of the firebase, a permanent road from Orgun-E has made its way all the way to Bermel. The estimated elementary level literacy rate for males in the Bermel Valley is 60% and 10-20% for females in the Bermel Valley. It is an impoverished region even by Afghan standards.

The Shkin Firebase was named after this village and was renamed Firebase Lilley to honor Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley, a U.S. Special Forces soldier who was killed in a firefight there in 2007. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-23/u-s-covert-troop-presence-in-afghanistan-larger-than-thought-post-says.html This heavily fortified military base has housed mostly American special operations forces since 2002 and is located just six kilometers from the Pakistani border and resembles the Alamo. It is considered the most dangerous location in Afghanistan.

In an article in Time Magazine, the base was described as:
"The U.S. firebase looks like a Wild West cavalry fort, ringed with coils of razor wire. A U.S. flag ripples above the 3-ft.-thick mud walls, and in the watchtower a guard scans the expanse of forested ridges, rising to 9,000 ft., that mark the border. When there's trouble, it usually comes from that direction."


Americans at the Firebase Lilley live at the front of the front line in the War. They are constant targets for al-Qa'ida and Taliban fighters who launch frequent strikes from nearby Pakistan. This border area is an unforgiving landscape, where the enemy can hide at close range while remaining invisible. When the US operators venture out in patrols along dusty tracks they have dubbed Chevy, Pontiac and Camaro, they know how easily a hunter can become prey. As U.S. Army Colonel Rodney Davis puts it, "Shkin is the evilest place in Afghanistan." The fire base has seen a great deal of enemy contact and the units that have served there have taken more casualties from enemy fire than any other location. Given the close proximity to the Pakistani border, it seems to have the most contact with enemy forces and not just in the form of (improvised explosive devices) or rocket attacks it's actual direct fire contact with the enemy.

On October 25, 2003, paramilitary officers Christopher Mueller and William "Chief" Carlson from the CIA's Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...

 were killed while conducting an operation to kill/capture high level al-Qa'ida leaders. On 21 May 2004, these Officers were honored with Stars on the CIA Memorial Wall
CIA Memorial Wall
The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.-Memorial:...

 at their Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. "The bravery of these two men cannot be overstated," Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet told a gathering of several hundred Agency employees and family members of those killed in the line of duty. "Chris and Chief put the lives of others ahead of their own. That is heroism defined." Mueller, a former US Navy SEAL and Carlson, a former Army Special Forces soldier, Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...

 operator, and member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, died while on a covert operation near Shkin, Afghanistan. Both officers saved the lives of others, including Afghan soldiers, during the engagement with al-Qa'ida forces.

As described in Bod Woodward's book Obama's War, the CIA created Counter-Terrorism Pursuit Teams (CTPT) starting in 2001 which reached 3,000 soldiers by 2010. They are considered the "best Afghan fighting force" and unlike the Afghan National Army (ANA), very well motivated. Firebase Lilley serves as a nerve center for the covert war and a hub for these CTPT operations. These units have not only been highly effective in combat operations against the Taliban and al-Qa'ida forces, but have also been used to engage with the tribes in areas with no other official government presence. This covert war also includes a large CIA expansion into Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) region of Pakistan to target senior al-Qa'ida and Taliban leadership. The CTPT units are key to any exit strategy for the U.S. government to leave Afghanistan, while still being able to deny al-Qa'ida and other transnational extremists groups a safehaven.

See also

  • Camp Chapman
  • CIA
  • JSOC
  • Special Activities Division
    Special Activities Division
    The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...

  • CIA Memorial Wall
    CIA Memorial Wall
    The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.-Memorial:...

  • Camp Chapman attack
    Camp Chapman attack
    The Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack against Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan, on December 30, 2009. The base is located near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, in a stronghold of the Taliban movement...


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