In the days leading up to the battle, Northern Alliance troops advanced on population centers near the city, such as Shol Ghar, which is 25 kilometers from Mazar-i-Sharif. Phonelines into the city were severed, and American officials began reporting accounts of anti-Taliban forces charging Afghan tanks on horseback. On November 2, 2001, Green Berets from ODA (Operational Detachment Alpha) 543 and small elements of the CIA SAC inserted into the Dari-a-Balkh Valley, after being delayed by weather for several nights, its role was to support General Mohammed Atta Nur and his militia. Together they fought through the Dari-e-Souf Valley and had linked up with General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his force and ODA 595 and the CIA team supporting Dostum, who had also battled through the valley, outside Mazar-e-Shariff.