Battle of Shewan
2008 military engagement in Afghanistan
The Battle of Shewan was a military engagement between coalition forces and Taliban insurgents that took place on August 8, 2008, near the village of Shewan in the Bala Buluk district, Farah Province, Afghanistan.
On August 8, 2008, elements from 2nd platoon, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, and 2nd Platoon, 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, conducted a clearing operation of the village. After approximately eight hours of heavy combat, the coalition marines defeated approximately 250-350 Taliban fighters.
Background
The village of Shewan was a Taliban headquarters used by several key leaders of the insurgency to plan and stage attacks on coalition forces in the area. U.S. intelligence estimated between 100 and 250 full-time fighters resided in the village. They controlled Route 517, the main east–west supply route, isolating coalition and Afghan national forces to the west. Opening the route was key to continuing combat operations in the area. Unknown to the Marines, there was a meeting of high-level Taliban commanders in the village that day, bringing with them an additional 100 well-trained fighters.
Previous attempts by the American or coalition troops to secure the village and Route 517 had produced bloody skirmishes that left a number of troops killed and wounded. The Taliban were regarded as a formidable enemy.
The public source identifies “Battle of Shewan” as 2008 military engagement in Afghanistan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Battle, Shewan and military.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Battle of Shewan”, the useful work is to connect “2008 military engagement in Afghanistan” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2889960. Authority coordinates are 32.625, 62.488. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Battle of Shewan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Battle of Shewan primary sources, Battle of Shewan archive and Battle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Battle of Shewan”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Battle of Shewan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.