Afghanistan — Forces Kill, Detain Militants, Find Weapons

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 19, 2010 — Afghan and inter­na­tion­al forces in Afghanistan killed or detained mil­i­tants and seized weapons in recent oper­a­tions, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

In Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict last night, a com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed mil­i­tants for questioning. 

Two pre­ci­sion-guid­ed muni­tions put an end to an engage­ment yes­ter­day that began when a large group of insur­gents attacked Afghan forces in Badghis province’s Murghab district. 

Dur­ing the fight­ing, which last­ed sev­er­al hours, Afghan and inter­na­tion­al forces fired sev­er­al mor­tar rounds before drop­ping two pre­ci­sion-guid­ed muni­tions on insur­gent posi­tions. No inter­na­tion­al or Afghan casu­al­ties result­ed from the engage­ment, and no Afghan civil­ians were harmed, offi­cials said. 

In Hel­mand province’s Kaja­ki dis­trict of yes­ter­day, an ISAF patrol found and destroyed four grenades, more than 800 pounds of small-arms muni­tions, two 40 mm rounds and five mini-flares. 

In Helmand’s Musa Qalah dis­trict yes­ter­day, a com­bined Afghan-inter­na­tion­al patrol found sev­er­al home­made bombs strung togeth­er. An explo­sive ord­nance dis­pos­al team destroyed the devices. 

Also yes­ter­day, an Afghan forces patrol found 16 pieces of unex­plod­ed ord­nance in Balkh province’s Nahr‑e Shahi district. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)