A skirmish occurred on the morning of February 10, 2003 outside of Lejay

Lejay, Afghanistan

Lejay, Afghanistan is a small village where an ambush of an American convoy took place on February 10, 2003.The Americans rounded up dozens of prisoners. By one account, the Americans rounded up 70 Afghans. Another account said they rounded up 40 Afghans. The Americans selected some of the men...

, a small village in the northern, mountainous part of Helmand Province

Helmand Province

Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....

, 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...

. 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 Trade

Opium production in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world, ahead of Burma and the "Golden Triangle" since 1992, excluding the year 2001. Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the "Golden Crescent". Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S....

.

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

Operation Eagle Fury

Operation Eagle Fury was a military operation led by the United States in Afghanistan involving a brigade of US Army Special Forces, elite members of the 82nd Airborne Division, and loyal Afghan fighters during 2003....

. The Operation mobilized dozens of coalition warplanes.

Differing accounts of the skirmish

Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Roger King

Roger King

Roger Douglas King is an English political figure who served as a Member of Parliament from 1983 to 1992.A member of the Conservative Party, King was elected to Parliament for Birmingham Northfield in the 1983 election, reversing a by-election loss to Labour the previous year...

, a Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 spokesman in Bagram

Bagram

Bagram , founded as Alexandria on the Caucasus and known in medieval times as Kapisa, is a small town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir...

 offered daily briefings on the initial skirmish, and the on Eagle Fury.

In 2004 the Summary of Evidence memos

Summary of Evidence (CSRT)

Counter-terrorism analysts prepared a Summary of Evidence memo for the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of the 558 captives who remained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba in the fall of 2004.-The 2005 release:...

 prepared for the Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were established July 7, 2004 by order of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense...

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.
• 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 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
  Raes Abdul Wahed
  Raes Abdul Wahed is an Afghan warlord.According to an article in the May 23, 2002 issue of Time magazine, Wahed was a Taliban commander who surrendered on January 5, 2002. Time reported that Wahed remained at large and in command of his district...
  
  , described as the Taliban District Commander.