Afghanistan — Forces Kill, Detain Militants, Seize Weapons, Drugs

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2010 — Afghan and inter­na­tion­al forces killed or cap­tured numer­ous ene­my fight­ers and seized ille­gal stock­piles of drugs and weapons in recent oper­a­tions in Afghanistan, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

— An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pect­ed mil­i­tants in Kan­da­har province last night at a com­pound that report­ed­ly belongs to a man believed to be respon­si­ble for facil­i­tat­ing sui­cide-bomb attacks in Kan­da­har City. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict yes­ter­day, a com­bined secu­ri­ty patrol found a shot­gun, two rifles, a pis­tol, small-arms ammu­ni­tion and a bag of bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als, and anoth­er com­bined patrol found a 300 pounds of mar­i­jua­na seed, 15 pounds of pop­py seed, 10 pounds of hashish, 100 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate and a small con­tain­er of an unknown white sub­stance. Ammo­ni­um nitrate is a banned fer­til­iz­er that can be used to make explosives. 

— A local civil­ian informed a com­bined patrol of insur­gent fight­ers’ where­abouts in Helmand’s Musa Qalah dis­trict yes­ter­day. Inter­na­tion­al forces cor­doned off the area while Afghan sol­diers went inside the com­pound to inves­ti­gate. The sol­diers found 264 pounds of opi­um, two assault rifles and 500 rounds of ammu­ni­tion. Five peo­ple were detained. 

— An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing the night of May 15 in Zab­ul province’s Qalat district. 

— In Helmand’s Now Zad dis­trict May 15, an Afghan-inter­na­tion­al patrol found five 155mm artillery rounds and 70 pounds of opium. 

— A com­bined patrol in Helmand’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict found four 82 mm rounds and three rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, May 15. 

— Also on May 15, a com­bined Afghan-inter­na­tion­al patrol found three mines and three rock­et-pro­pelled grenades in Uruz­gan province’s Tarin Kot district. 

— In the Baghlan‑e Jedid dis­trict of Bagh­lan province the night of May 14, an Afghan-inter­na­tion­al force killed sev­er­al mil­i­tants and cap­tured sev­er­al oth­ers as they searched for a Tal­iban leader. The secu­ri­ty force went to a com­pound in a rur­al area after intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion indi­cat­ed insur­gent activ­i­ty. At the com­pound, the Afghan mem­bers of the assault force called for the insur­gents to sur­ren­der, but they refused and engaged the secu­ri­ty force. After the com­bined force returned fire and killed sev­er­al mil­i­tants, oth­er insur­gents sur­ren­dered and were detained. Two of the mil­i­tants, includ­ing a woman who tried to engage the assault force with an auto­mat­ic rifle, were wound­ed and were tak­en to a near­by hos­pi­tal. The search team found auto­mat­ic rifles, grenades and tac­ti­cal com­mu­ni­ca­tions equip­ment at the compound. 

— In Kan­da­har province on the night of May 14, a com­bined force oper­at­ing in the Kan­da­har dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents for questioning. 

— In Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict the same night, a com­bined force search­ing for a Tal­iban bomb­ing-cell com­man­der detained a few sus­pect­ed insur­gents for questioning. 

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