Coalition Forces Detain Militants, Find Weapons in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 — Afghan and coali­tion troops cap­tured sev­er­al insur­gents, includ­ing a Haqan­ni ter­ror­ist net­work leader, yes­ter­day in Afghanistan, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
Troops detained the Haqan­ni ter­ror­ist and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent in Khost province’s Khost dis­trict, where they are believed to be respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing attacks against local secu­ri­ty forces.

In oth­er news yes­ter­day through­out Afghanistan: 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, secu­ri­ty forces cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Hezb‑e Isla­mi facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for sup­ply­ing the ter­ror­ist group with explo­sive devices. 

— Forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing clear­ing oper­a­tions in Hel­mand province’s Kaja­ki district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained three sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a vehi­cle-inter­dic­tion oper­a­tion in Nim­roz province. The sus­pects were found with machine guns and more than 1,500 pounds of opium. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als through­out the province in Zab­ul province’s Qalat district. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent in Log­ar province’s Muham­mad Aghag dis­trict while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader alleged­ly respon­si­ble for sev­er­al bomb­ings in the area. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces found sev­er­al drug and weapons stock­piles through­out Afghanistan. The oper­a­tions result­ed in seizure of 5,940 assault-rifle and machine-gun rounds, 26 assort­ed rock­ets and mor­tars, 15 hand grenades, 11 assault rifles, three pis­tols and a shot­gun. Troops also con­fis­cat­ed more than 4,800 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate –- a banned fer­til­iz­er often used in road­side bombs — and 44 pounds of opium. 

In oper­a­tions Feb. 20: 

— Secu­ri­ty forces in Khost province’s Ter­ayzai dis­trict cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Haqan­ni ter­ror­ist net­work leader with ties to numer­ous insur­gent attacks in the area, and wound­ed an armed mil­i­tant in the oper­a­tion. The wound­ed insur­gent was shot by secu­ri­ty forces after refus­ing their request to disarm. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Takhar province’s Bahkar dis­trict while search­ing for an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist leader. 

— Act­ing on tips from local res­i­dents, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Tal­iban weapons traf­fick­er, in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj district. 

— Forces detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a clear­ing oper­a­tion in Kan­da­har province’s Reg­is­tan dis­trict, while tar­get­ing com­pounds report­ed­ly used for hous­ing for­eign fight­ers and weapons. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent in Nan­garhar province’s Surkh Rod dis­trict while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing explo­sive devices and sup­plies to ter­ror­ists plot­ting to attack Afghan gov­ern­ment officials. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a Haqan­ni net­work ter­ror­ist respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing explo­sives and sup­plies for sui­cide bombers in Pak­ti­ka province’s Orgun district. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces found sev­er­al drug stock­piles through­out Afghanistan. The oper­a­tions also result­ed in the seizure of 32 assort­ed rock­ets and mor­tars, 11 hand grenades, three assault rifles, two anti-tank mines, a pis­tol, and 150 pounds of explosives. 

In Feb. 19 operations: 

— After spot­ting sev­er­al insur­gents dis­play­ing what offi­cials called “hos­tile acts” in Hel­mand province’s San­gin dis­trict, troops fired on the insur­gent fight­ing posi­tion, killing sev­er­al insurgents. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces found sev­er­al weapons stock­piles through­out Afghanistan. Oper­a­tions result­ed in seizure of 16,500 assault-rifle rounds, 17 rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, 16 rock­et-pro­pelled grenade boost­ers, 13 fake Afghan police iden­ti­fi­ca­tion cards, nine direc­tion­al frag­men­ta­tion charges, sev­en assault rifles, three four-gal­lon con­tain­ers of liq­uid explo­sives, three pres­sure plates, a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er, a pis­tol and 328 feet of det­o­na­tion cord. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Com­piled from Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Releases 

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