View source for 2003 Lejay firefight

{{Campaignbox Helmand province campaign}}
{{Campaignbox US war in Afghanistan}}
{{Coord|33.15|65.133|display=title}}
[[Image:Helmand districts.png|thumb|250px|Lejay is located in the [[Baghran valley]], in Helmand Province.]]

A skirmish occurred on the morning of February 10, 2003 outside [[Lejay, Afghanistan|Lejay]], a small village in the northern, mountainous part of [[Helmand Province]], [[Afghanistan]].  The village is in the [[Baghran valley]], and one of the few highways in Afghanistan passes through it.
American intelligence analysts assert that the village is the focus of the [[Opium production in Afghanistan|opium trade]].

Vehicles approaching the village report being fired on.  In response American forces mobilized hundreds of troops to comb the country surrounding the village in [[Operation Eagle Fury]].  The Operation mobilized dozens of coalition warplanes.

==Differing accounts of the skirmish==

[[Colonel]] Roger King, a [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] spokesman in [[Bagram]] offered daily briefings on the initial skirmish, and the on Eagle Fury.

In 2004 the Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the [[Combatant Status Review Tribunal]]s of the captives apprehended following the initial shooting incident offered a different account.

===Colonel King's 2003 account===

According to Colonel King:
*An ambush occurred around dawn on February 10, 2003.<ref name=NYTimes20030212Gall>
{{cite news
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/world/threats-and-responses-combat-ambushed-in-afghanistan-gi-s-call-in-airstrikes.html 
| title=Ambushed In Afghanistan, G.I.'s Call In Airstrikes
| work = [[The New York Times]]
| author=Carlotta Gall
| author-link=Carlotta Gall
| date=February 12, 2003
| access-date=2008-04-30
}}</ref><ref name=TheNewYorkTimes20030212>
{{cite news
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/international/asia/12CND-BATT.html?ex=1174276800&en=c646fb73b9c359d2&ei=5070
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120145/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/international/asia/12CND-BATT.html?ex=1174276800&en=c646fb73b9c359d2&ei=5070
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=March 4, 2016
| title=Afghans Report 17 Civilian Deaths in U.S.-Led Bombing
| date= February 12, 2003
| access-date=2007-03-16
| work=The New York Times
| first=Carlotta
| last=Gall}}</ref><ref name=SydneyMorningHerald030213>
{{cite news
| date=February 12, 2003
| publisher=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]
| url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/11/1044927601223.html
| title=Coalition warplanes bomb Afghan caves after ambush
| access-date=2007-03-17
}}</ref><ref name=YahooNews030213>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.intellnet.org/news/2003/02/13/16751-1.html
| publisher=[[Reuters]]
| title=Afghans Say More Civilians Die in U.S.-Led Raids
| date=February 13, 2003
| author=Mirwais Afghan
| access-date=2007-02-16
}}</ref><ref name=NYTimes20030426Gall>
{{cite news
| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/26/world/aftereffects-peacekeeping-in-afghanistan-violence-stalls-renewal-effort.html?pagewanted=all
| title=In Afghanistan, Violence Stalls Renewal Effort
| work = The New York Times
| author=Carlotta Gall
| author-link=Carlotta Gall
| date=April 26, 2003
| access-date=2008-04-30
}}</ref>  
*American forces saw five shooters, who retreated into nearby caves, when the forces on the ground called in air support.

The Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the villagers who were sent to [[Guantánamo|Guantanamo]], on the other hand:
* Said that the American vehicles were fired on at around 10:30 am.
* That American forces saw the shooters escape in a white car.
* That the American forces were not on a routine patrol, that they had set out to capture warlord [[Raes Abdul Wahed]], described as the Taliban District Commander.<ref name=CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceAlifMohammed>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000700-000783.pdf#1
 |title        = Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Mohammed, Alif
 |publisher    = [[United States Department of Defense]]
 |author       = OARDEC
 |author-link       = OARDEC
 |date         = November 4, 2004
 |access-date   = 2007-10-05
 |pages        = 1
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071204201301/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/000700-000783.pdf#1
 |archive-date = 2007-12-04
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Afghanistan War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lejay firefight, 2003}}
[[Category:2003 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]]
[[Category:Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]]
[[Category:Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States]]
[[Category:February 2003 in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:21st century in Helmand Province]]
[[Category:Ambushes in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:2003 mass shootings in Asia]]
[[Category:Mass shootings in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Shootouts]]
[[Category:Opium in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:2003 road incidents]]
[[Category:2000s road incidents in Asia]]
[[Category:Road incidents in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Attacks in Afghanistan in 2003]]
[[Category:Organized crime in Afghanistan]]