Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill, Detain Insurgents

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2010 — Afghan and coali­tion forces killed and detained sev­er­al insur­gents and found a num­ber of weapons stock­piles in south­ern Afghanistan today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
Secu­ri­ty forces detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent and found 11,000 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate – a fer­til­iz­er that’s banned by the Afghan gov­ern­ment because it can be used to make home­made explo­sives — in Hel­mand province. Anoth­er patrol near­by came under attack, but man­aged to kill and detain sev­er­al insur­gents. A search of the insur­gents’ fight­ing posi­tion result­ed in 200 rounds of small-arms ammu­ni­tion, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, two mor­tars and an assault rifle.

In Kan­da­har, Afghan and coali­tion forces found four pres­sure-plate bombs, three hand grenades, three land mines, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenades with a launch­er, two assault rifles and var­i­ous bomb-mak­ing materials. 

Also today in Afghanistan, offi­cials from NATO’s Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force con­firmed the iden­ti­ty of a ter­ror­ist leader killed Dec. 13 in Zab­ul province’s Shah Joy dis­trict. Hakimul­lah was a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for order­ing ambush attacks against secu­ri­ty forces along High­way 1. He and anoth­er insur­gent were killed dur­ing the oper­a­tion after shoot­ing assault weapons at the troops. 

ISAF offi­cials also con­firmed that anoth­er insur­gent who was cap­tured Dec. 13 in Khost province is a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing and plant­i­ng road­side bombs. He was detained in the province’s Ter­azai district. 

Afghan and coali­tion forces respond­ed to a car bomb­ing in Kan­da­har province today that left three chil­dren dead and nine oth­er Afghan civil­ians injured. Secu­ri­ty forces secured the area and evac­u­at­ed the wound­ed to ISAF med­ical facilities. 

In oper­a­tions in Afghanistan yesterday:

— Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict. The Haqqani leader is respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing weapons and bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als to insur­gents through­out the dis­trict. Tips from local res­i­dents led secu­ri­ty forces to their location. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces cap­tured anoth­er Haqqani net­work leader in Khost province’s Khost City. He is respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing and hous­ing poten­tial sui­cide bombers. He also is believed to have par­tic­i­pat­ed in attacks this week on coali­tion and Afghan secu­ri­ty forces’ base camps. Tips from local res­i­dents led secu­ri­ty forces to his location. 

— In Pak­tia province, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a Tal­iban leader with ties to a recent car bomb­ing on a coali­tion base camp. Two coali­tion troops died and four Afghan civil­ians were injured in the attack. Tips from local res­i­dents led secu­ri­ty forces to his location. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces in Kan­da­har province’s Gho­rak dis­trict detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing an oper­a­tion to dis­rupt drug smug­gling in the region. The sus­pect was found hoard­ing more than 1,700 pounds of opi­um, which the com­bined force destroyed. 

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

Face­book and/or on Twit­ter