Combined Force Captures Taliban Leader

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader dur­ing an overnight secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Hel­mand province yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The leader was respon­si­ble for direct­ing insur­gents who con­duct road­side-bomb and direct-fire attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. 

Intel­li­gence tips led the Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force to the leader’s compound. 

In oth­er oper­a­tions in Afghanistan yesterday: 

– Based on res­i­dents’ tips, an Afghan-led com­bined force in Kun­duz province’s Imam Sahib dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who works for the Kun­duz attack net­work and is respon­si­ble for attacks tar­get­ing local Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

In oper­a­tions June 25: 

– Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force offi­cials joined the Afghan pres­i­dent and the min­is­ter of inte­ri­or in con­demn­ing sep­a­rate bomb­ings in Log­ar and Kun­duz provinces. 

Ini­tial reports in Log­ar province’s Arza dis­trict indi­cate that at least 10 Afghan civil­ians were killed and more than 40 wound­ed, includ­ing women and chil­dren, when ter­ror­ists attacked a hospital. 

In anoth­er attack, ini­tial reports indi­cate as many as 10 Afghan civil­ians were killed, includ­ing five women and a police offi­cer, and more than 24 wound­ed when a bicy­cle loaded with explo­sives det­o­nat­ed at a bazaar in Kun­duz province’s Khan Abad district. 

“The insur­gents have a com­plete dis­re­gard for the inno­cent peo­ple of Afghanistan who are try­ing to live in peace,” said Rear Adm. Vic Beck, ISAF direc­tor of pub­lic affairs. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the fam­i­lies of those killed and wound­ed, and we will not fal­ter in our efforts to work with our Afghan part­ners to find those respon­si­ble and bring them to justice.” 

– A com­bined force vehi­cle inter­dic­tion oper­a­tion tar­get­ed insur­gent-smug­gling routes in Kan­da­har province’s Mai­wand dis­trict. Sev­er­al insur­gents were killed dur­ing the oper­a­tion. The force attempt­ed to stop a vehi­cle after they saw it being loaded with sev­er­al bags from known nar­cotics sites. Sev­er­al men fled the area and lat­er returned, attack­ing the patrol. The force killed sev­er­al insur­gents, and found and destroyed 1,874 pounds of dry opi­um, 4,000 7.62 mm rounds and 12 loaded assault magazines. 

– In Uruz­gan province’s Shahid‑E Hasas dis­trict, a com­bined force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for an insur­gent leader who spe­cial­izes in com­mand-and-con­trol com­mu­ni­ca­tions and the man­u­fac­ture of home­made bombs. Sev­er­al insur­gents engaged the force while they were search­ing the area. A coali­tion air weapons team assist­ed the com­bined force, killing sev­er­al insur­gents. The force also found four assault rifles, a machine gun, two grenades, 88 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate, sev­er­al det­o­na­tors and 20 loaded assault rifle magazines. 

– Based on intel­li­gence reports, an Afghan-led force in Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict detained a Tal­iban leader and killed an insur­gent. The leader was appoint­ed as com­mis­sion­er in charge of trans­porta­tion, logis­tics and finance for Tal­iban lead­ers and fight­ers with­in cen­tral Hel­mand. The force encoun­tered a man with an assault rifle. As he laid down his weapon, anoth­er man ran out of the com­pound car­ry­ing a bulky vest. The force engaged the man, killing him. The force iden­ti­fied the vest as a chest rack with mul­ti­ple assault rifle magazines. 

– Based on tips, an Afghan-led force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and one of his asso­ciates in Balkh province’s Chim­tal dis­trict. The leader was respon­si­ble for sev­er­al attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

– In Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict, a com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for mov­ing weapons, road­side-bomb com­po­nents and oth­er mate­r­i­al through the district. 

– In Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwa’i dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a man with sus­pect­ed ties to the Tal­iban while search­ing for a tac­ti­cal-lev­el Tal­iban leader who coor­di­nates and exe­cutes direct-fire and road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

– Com­bined forces cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and sev­er­al asso­ciates dur­ing sep­a­rate secu­ri­ty oper­a­tions in Hel­mand province’s Pan­jwa’i and Nahr‑e Saraj dis­tricts. The leader was respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing and con­duct­ing road­side-bomb attacks in Kan­da­har and Pan­jwa’i. The forces also found 75 pres­sure plates, sev­er­al 107 mm rock­ets, rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, one anti-per­son­nel mine, 231 pounds of home­made explo­sive and sev­er­al home­made bomb-mak­ing components. 

– Based on intel­li­gence tips, a com­bined force in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader who directs a road­side-bomb attack cell and is heav­i­ly involved in the facil­i­ta­tion of weapons and explosives. 

– An Afghan-led com­bined force in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict detained sev­er­al peo­ple with sus­pect­ed ties to the Haqqani net­work while search­ing for a Haqqani leader respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing and con­duct­ing attacks against the Afghan army. 

– In Pak­ti­ka province’s Mata Khan dis­trict, a com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for a Haqqani leader respon­si­ble for the acqui­si­tion and emplace­ment of road­side bombs in the dis­trict, and also is respon­si­ble for attacks tar­get­ing Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

– A com­bined force in Pak­ti­ka province’s Gardez dis­trict killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained two peo­ple while search­ing for a Haqqani leader who maneu­vers fight­ers and weapons from Pak­istan. The Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force was engaged by sev­er­al insur­gents armed with machine guns and assault rifles. After receiv­ing con­tin­u­ous ene­my fire, the force returned fire, killing sev­er­al people. 

– An Afghan-led force in Lagh­man province’s Dowlat Shah dis­trict cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents after being alert­ed by res­i­dents. The leader was respon­si­ble for sev­er­al road­side-bomb and direct attacks tar­get­ing Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

In oper­a­tions June 24: 

– A com­bined force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and destroyed numer­ous weapons caches in Zab­ul province’s Day­chopan dis­trict. The oper­a­tion occurred in the heart of Day­chopan, near Kebay vil­lage, a tra­di­tion­al stag­ing area for many of the recent attacks on Afghan and coali­tion forces sta­tioned in the region, accord­ing to a dis­trict police offi­cial. The Afghan-led force was engaged by small-arms and mor­tar fire near Kebay vil­lage. Lat­er, Afghan force team lead­ers held meet­ings with vil­lage elders to help com­mu­ni­cate the operation’s purpose. 

– A com­bined force in Kun­duz province’s Khan­abad dis­trict seized 12 anti-per­son­nel mines and 25 pounds of home­made explosives. 

– A com­bined force patrol in Kan­da­har province’s Kan­da­har dis­trict found five 60 mm mor­tar rounds and a hand grenade. 

– In War­dak province’s Maid­an Shahr dis­trict, a coali­tion force patrol con­fis­cat­ed five rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and an unknown amount of det­o­na­tion cord. 

Source:
Com­piled from Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Releases