Operation Anaconda  took place in early March 2002. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.  The operation took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat.[5] This operation was the first large-scale battle in the post-2001 War in Afghanistan since the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. This was the first operation in the Afghanistan theater to involve a large number of U.S. conventional (i.e. non-Special Operations Forces) forces participating in direct combat activities.