Afghanistan — Forces Capture Militants, Evacuate Civilians, Seize Weapons

KABUL, April 16, 2010 — Afghan and inter­na­tion­al forces cap­tured sev­er­al insur­gents, evac­u­at­ed civil­ians after an explo­sion, and seized ene­my weapons stock­piles in recent oper­a­tions, mil­i­tary offi­cials in Afghanistan report­ed.

— A com­bined Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed mil­i­tants in a rur­al area of north­east­er Mar­ja in Hel­mand province this morning. 

— In the Tari­ni Kot dis­trict of Uruz­gan province this morn­ing, a com­bined force found a 105 mm artillery round, a grenade and four mor­tar rounds. 

— In Kan­da­har City last night, the Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force helped Afghan forces in evac­u­at­ing and treat­ing wound­ed civil­ians after a large explo­sion. ISAF forces air­lift­ed nine civil­ians to a med­ical treat­ment facil­i­ty at Kan­da­har Airfield. 

— Also in Kan­da­har last night, a com­bined force in the Pan­jwayi dis­trict was met with small-arms fire when approach­ing a com­pound where mil­i­tant activ­i­ty was report­ed. The com­bined force returned fire and killed one insur­gent in the ini­tial engage­ment. Lat­er, anoth­er armed insur­gent attempt­ed to maneu­ver on the com­bined force and was killed. The secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban bomb­ing cell leader, respon­si­ble for build­ing and emplac­ing road­side bombs in the area, who sur­ren­dered when con­front­ed. Sev­er­al oth­er sus­pects also were detained. A search uncov­ered a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade and 2,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition. 

— In Mar­ja yes­ter­day, Afghan and inter­na­tion­al part­ners sur­round­ed a com­pound where a Tal­iban com­man­der was locat­ed. When peo­ple inside the com­pound refused to answer the Afghan forces call­ing for them to come out, Afghan spe­cial police led the com­bined force into the com­pound. One insur­gent pre­sent­ed a threat to the com­bined force and was killed. Anoth­er insur­gent was detained by Afghan author­i­ties. Three women and four chil­dren were pro­tect­ed through­out this oper­a­tion, and no civil­ians were injured, offi­cials said. — In Helmand’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict yes­ter­day, a com­bined patrol found 10 anti-per­son­nel mines, a clay­more mine, sev­en mor­tar rounds and small-arms ammunition. 

— On April 13, a com­bined force locat­ed and killed a sui­cide-bomb facil­i­ta­tor north­east of Lashkar Gah in Hel­mand province. 

Source:
From an Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Release