Karzai, Allen Condemn Insurgent Attacks

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2011 — Afghan Pres­i­dent Hamid Karzai and Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, com­man­der of the Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force, joint­ly con­demned yesterday’s impro­vised explo­sive device attack that killed numer­ous civil­ians and wound­ed many oth­ers — includ­ing chil­dren — at the bazaar in the Deh Rawud dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Uruz­gan province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

Ini­tial reports indi­cate that one motor­cy­cle-borne IED explod­ed in the bazaar area as local civil­ians were shop­ping for their evening meal. 

Karzai and Allen also con­demned yesterday’s attack that killed Rabia Sadat, an employ­ee of the Kan­da­har Depart­ment of Rur­al Devel­op­ment, and a mem­ber of the Provin­cial Peace Committee. 

“The insur­gents’ brazen and heinous acts show their com­plete dis­re­gard for the Afghan peo­ple and their prop­er­ty,” Allen said. “We mourn with our Afghan part­ners over this trag­ic loss of life.” 

In oth­er Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and one of his asso­ciates in the Shin­war dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. The facil­i­ta­tor oper­at­ed in the Surkh Rod dis­trict and sup­port­ed Tal­iban attacks against the Afghan police and oth­er Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. The force also con­fis­cat­ed an assault rifle, pis­tols, sev­er­al chest racks and ammunition. 

— In the Khan­abad dis­trict of Kun­duz province, a com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pects dur­ing a search for an Islam­ic Move­ment Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion facil­i­ta­tor who is involved in the move­ment of weapons and explo­sives for attacks through­out north­ern Afghanistan. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent leader in the Pan­jwai dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The leader is respon­si­ble for mul­ti­ple ambush­es and road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force cap­tured a Hezb‑e Isla­mi Gul­bud­din ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion leader and sev­er­al of his asso­ciates in the Nerkh dis­trict of War­dak province. The leader was respon­si­ble for plan­ning and coor­di­nat­ing attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader in the Zur­mat dis­trict of Pak­tia province. The leader is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing road­side-bomb and direct attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

In Aug. 15 Afghanistan operations: 

— A com­bined patrol killed more than 10 insur­gents and detained two oth­ers dur­ing a search for an insur­gent leader oper­at­ing in the Now Zad dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The tar­get­ed insur­gent leader is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing and orga­niz­ing attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. Dur­ing the oper­a­tion, insur­gents engaged a com­bined forces heli­copter. The com­bined forces returned fire and killed the insurgents. 

— A com­bined patrol detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader in the Kab­ul dis­trict of Kab­ul province. The insur­gent leader is respon­si­ble for sup­ply­ing lethal aid used against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

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