Afghanistan — Forces Kill Insurgent in Baghlan Province

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2011 — Afghan and coali­tion forces today killed an insur­gent and detained sev­er­al oth­ers in the Burkah dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Bagh­lan province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
Troops were search­ing for a senior leader with the Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist group in north­ern Afghanistan when they came under fire from attack­ers in a near­by field. The ene­my fight­ers maneu­vered to a house in the area, where secu­ri­ty forces killed one fight­er and even­tu­al­ly over­came the insur­gent force.

In oth­er oper­a­tions today in Afghanistan: 

— Secu­ri­ty forces in Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwai dis­trict cap­tured the Taliban’s top mil­i­tary leader in the province, along with two oth­er sus­pect­ed insurgents.

— In Kan­da­har province’s Kan­da­har dis­trict, troops detained a senior Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for plan­ning and approv­ing assas­si­na­tions of Afghan gov­ern­ment officials. 

— Forces oper­at­ing in Hel­mand province’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict detained a senior Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for sev­er­al attacks against secu­ri­ty forces. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent, while search­ing for a Hezb‑E Isla­mi Gul­bud­din ter­ror­ist respon­si­ble for weapons traf­fick­ing and facil­i­tat­ing attacks on secu­ri­ty forces in east­ern Afghanistan. 

In oper­a­tions March 20: 

— Forces killed sev­er­al ene­my fight­ers who ambushed their patrol in Hel­mand province’s San­gin district.

— Also in Hel­mand province’s San­gin dis­trict, troops killed an insur­gent after spot­ting an armed group set­ting up a fight­ing position. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces killed an ene­my fight­er in Warkad province’s Nerkh dis­trict after a group of insur­gents ambushed the com­bined patrol. 

— Com­bined oper­a­tions net­ted three weapons and drug stock­piles, result­ing in the seizure of 120 assault rifle rounds, 44 pounds of hashish, 14 mor­tars, 12 hand grenades, five rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and assort­ed bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als, includ­ing ammo­ni­um nitrate -– a banned fer­til­iz­er used in explo­sive devices. 

In March 19 operations: 

— An air weapons team from NATO’s Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force killed numer­ous insur­gents and detained two sus­pects who were alleged­ly set­ting up an ille­gal check­point in Log­ar province’s Pul‑e Alam dis­trict. The air weapons team also fired on anoth­er group of insur­gents who were mov­ing into an ambush posi­tion, killing sev­er­al more insur­gents. Also, ground forces detained two survivors. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces killed numer­ous insur­gents and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for four Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan lead­ers respon­si­ble for indi­rect fire and bomb­ing attacks in Bagh­lan province’s Burkah dis­trict. Ground troops came under attack from mul­ti­ple direc­tions by ene­my fight­ers with small arms and rock­et-pro­pelled grenades. They repelled the attack for some time before close-air sup­port arrived, killing at least 10 insurgents. 

— Forces killed sev­er­al armed insur­gents who ambushed their foot patrol with small arms and machine-gun fire in Hel­mand province’s Kaja­ki district. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces found a weapons cache in Ghazni province’s Deh Yak dis­trict, which con­sist­ed of 40 assault rifle trac­er rounds, 14 land mines, sev­en artillery shells, six 30 mm machine-gun rounds, 5 pounds of home­made explo­sives, two anti-tank mines and a mor­tar tube base plate. 

In March 18 operations: 

— A coali­tion airstrike killed numer­ous insur­gents who were dis­play­ing hos­tile intent in Hel­mand province’s Reg‑e Khan district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion troops killed sev­er­al ene­my fight­ers and detained an insur­gent weapons traf­fick­er who has helped to car­ry out sev­er­al attacks on forces in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj district. 

— Forces killed two insur­gents who dis­played hos­tile intent in Uruz­gan province’s Shahid‑e Hasas district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces killed two insur­gents using close-air sup­port after spot­ting them plant­i­ng road­side bombs in Hel­mand province’s Mar­ja district. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces fired on a group of insur­gents dis­play­ing hos­tile intent toward a coali­tion out­post, killing one and dis­pers­ing the others. 

— Forces killed an insur­gent dur­ing a shootout in Uruz­gan province’s Shahid‑e Hasas district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained more than 20 sus­pect­ed insur­gents linked to a weapons cache in Ghazni province. The cache con­sist­ed of 1,000 assault-rifle rounds, 178 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate, 44 pounds of mag­ne­sium — a burn­ing agent used in explo­sive devices — and an assault rifle. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while search­ing for the top Tal­iban leader in Bagh­lan province’s Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict. Intel­li­gence reports sug­gest the Tal­iban leader has been plan­ning sui­cide bomb­ing attacks to car­ry out dur­ing upcom­ing Afghan spring hol­i­days. Troops also found a machine gun 

with about 300 rounds of ammu­ni­tion, a pis­tol and a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er. — Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Tal­iban weapons traf­fick­er in Kan­da­har province’s Kan­da­har district. 

— In Nan­garhar province’s Cha­parhar dis­trict, troops cap­tured a Tal­iban bomb mak­er who alleged­ly trains ene­my fight­ers to pro­duce and emplace explo­sive devices. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces in Khost province’s Bak dis­trict detained sev­er­al insur­gents and dis­cov­ered a weapons cache of sev­en 82 mm machine-gun rounds, three assault rifles and a machine gun. 

— Forces dis­cov­ered three oth­er stock­piles of weapons and drugs, result­ing in seizure of 2,300 assault rifle rounds, 50 machine-gun rounds, 50 pounds of shrap­nel, 19 land mines, nine rock­et-pro­pelled grenade boost­ers, eight rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, five hand grenades, three Afghan police uni­forms, an assault rifle, a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er and assort­ed bomb-mak­ing materials. 

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

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