Editing Operation Anaconda (section)

===1 March 2002===
A day before the planned operation, two Mako 31 snipers found a group of foreign fighters that had established a position and were manning a [[DShK]] [[Heavy machine gun|HMG]] on the peak where they planned to set up an observation post. The DShK overlooked the southeastern entrance to the valley through which the TF Rakkasan Chinooks were due to fly in 24 hours and, if it was not disabled before then, it could shoot down the Chinooks carrying the conventional forces. The SEALs came up with a plan to ambush the enemy in the pre-dawn darkness before the Rakkasans flew into the valley. At 4 A.M the next morning, the three SEALs from MAKO 31 quietly approached the enemy camp, intending to wait until shortly before the air assault was scheduled to begin before eliminating the fighters there. However, the SEALs were spotted by an Uzbek [[Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan|IMU]] insurgent and a brief firefight ensued. During the intense exchange, two of the SEALs' rifles jammed after firing just one shot. The third SEAL held off the enemy as his colleagues quickly cleared the jams and resumed firing, killing 5 out of the 7 foreign fighters. As another insurgent joined the firefight, firing a [[PK machine gun|PKM]], the SEAL team decided to break contact and called in an [[AC-130]] which destroyed the enemy encampment with 105&nbsp;mm rounds. The sound of the AC-130 firing alerted the Al-Qaeda fighters throughout the valley, who began firing their weapons into the air. However, this turned out to be a fatal mistake as the tracer rounds revealed their positions to the [[Advanced Force Operations|AFO]] teams, who noted the locations to be targeted by airstrikes later.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda |date=7 March 2006 |publisher=Dutton Caliber |isbn=978-0-425-20787-1 |pages=190–191 |edition=Reprint |language=English}}</ref><ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015  {{ISBN|978-1472807908}}, p.54</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command |date=1 September 2015 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=191 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Relentless-Strike-History-Special-Operations-ebook/dp/B00TDTR5ZW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= |language=English}}</ref>

The SEALs proceeded to occupy the observation post. Upon searching the camp, they discovered that the Al-Qaeda fighters were well-equipped. Not only did the SEALs find plenty of ammunition for the DShK, but also a Soviet-style SVD Dragunov sniper rifle, several Kalashnikov assault rifles, at least one RPG-7 launcher with several rounds, a PK machine gun, and several fragmentation grenades. The SEALs also found documents that were written in both [[Arabic script|Arabic]] and [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] scripts, indicating that the Arab Al-Qaeda fighters and the Uzbek and Chechen IMU fighters were not operating separately, but had formed cross-cultural teams. Among the documents was a notebook containing instructions on how to construct homemade bombs for blowing up bridges, buildings, buses, and cars.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naylor |first1=Sean |title=Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda |date=7 March 2006 |publisher=Dutton Caliber |isbn=978-0-425-20787-1 |pages=191 |edition=Reprint |language=English}}</ref>