Combined Force in Helmand Kills Insurgents

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed two insur­gents and detained sev­er­al oth­ers dur­ing an oper­a­tion in search of a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor yes­ter­day in the Kaja­ki dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Hel­mand province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The facil­i­ta­tor coor­di­nates ship­ments of explo­sives and weapons used to sup­port Tal­iban oper­a­tions in the area, offi­cials said. 

An insur­gent armed with an assault rifle was killed when he engaged the secu­ri­ty force, and a sec­ond armed insur­gent was killed after dis­play­ing hos­tile intent. 

In Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict today, a coali­tion patrol found and destroyed 616 pounds of home­made explosives. 

In oper­a­tions around Afghanistan yesterday: 

— A com­bined force killed an insur­gent and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in Faryab province’s Ghor­ma­ch dis­trict. The leader plans and directs attacks against Afghan forces, obtains weapons for ene­my fight­ers and enforc­ing ille­gal tax­es on local residents. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Kun­duz dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and detained two oth­er sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— A com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing an oper­a­tion in search of an ene­my facil­i­ta­tor in Pak­tia province’s Saro­bi dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor pro­vides mon­ey and sup­plies and har­bors net­work lead­ers through­out the region. 

— In Paktia’s Gardez dis­trict a com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion in search of an insur­gent net­work leader. The leader coor­di­nates road­side-bomb attacks and is direct­ly respon­si­ble for recent attacks in the Zur­mat and Gardez districts. 

— A com­bined force in Log­ar province’s Muham­mad Aghah dis­trict detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion in search of a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who dis­trib­utes weapons and road­side bombs to insur­gent fighters. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Kan­da­har dis­trict, a com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion in search of a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for the move­ment of ammu­ni­tion and explo­sives between Kan­da­har and Zab­ul provinces. 

— A com­bined patrol in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑E Saraj dis­trict seized and destroyed 220 pounds of opi­um and 220 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate. 

— A com­bined force killed a Tal­iban leader and an asso­ciate with a pre­ci­sion airstrike in Zab­ul province’s Tarnek wa Jal­dak dis­trict. The tar­get of the oper­a­tion led numer­ous insur­gent fight­ers and was respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan forces. 

In Oct. 15 operations: 

— A com­bined force search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials was involved in an engage­ment in War­dak province” Chak‑e War­dak dis­trict. At the onset of the oper­a­tion, the secu­ri­ty force called for peo­ple inside the tar­get­ed com­pound to come out peace­ful­ly and saw a per­son who did not come out point­ing a weapon through a win­dow them. The force fired, and fired again upon see­ing a sec­ond armed indi­vid­ual. Else­where at the loca­tion, the secu­ri­ty force was fired upon by a third per­son and returned fire, killing him. Upon enter­ing the build­ing, the force found that two of the three armed indi­vid­u­als were women. Fol­low­ing the oper­a­tion, the secu­ri­ty force met with vil­lage lead­ers to inform them about the events. Two sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained, and the secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed three assault rifles, ammu­ni­tion pouch­es and a grenade. 

— In Bagh­lan province’s Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent. The leader planned attacks against Afghan forces and placed road­side bombs through­out the province. 

— A com­bined force in Khost province’s Musa Khel dis­trict found and destroyed five rifles, three 82 mm rounds, 11 assault-rifle mag­a­zines, mor­tar and mis­sile launch­er com­po­nents, ammu­ni­tion and a truck, and detained five insur­gents in con­nec­tion with the discovery. 

— In Khost’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor who dis­trib­utes weapons, ammu­ni­tion, rock­ets and road­side bombs to insur­gent fight­ers in the region. Bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and oth­er weapons, includ­ing rock­ets and ammu­ni­tion, were con­fis­cat­ed the operation. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in Nan­garhar province’s Khugyani dis­trict who dis­trib­utes explo­sives for use in attacks against Afghan forces. The secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed two assault rifles and oth­er mil­i­tary equipment. 

— In War­dak province’s Maid­an Shahr dis­trict, a com­bined secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader who coor­di­nat­ed sui­cide-bomb attacks in the Afghan cap­i­tal of Kabul. 

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