Afghanistan — Security Forces Kill Taliban Weapons Facilitator

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2011 — Afghan and Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force troops yes­ter­day killed Awal Jan, a Tal­iban weapons and impro­vised-explo­sive-device facil­i­ta­tor, dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in Chak‑e dis­trict, War­dak province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
Awal Jan was oper­at­ing in the dis­trict, sup­ply­ing insur­gents with weapons and impro­vised-explo­sive-device com­po­nents to include explo­sive mate­r­i­al for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces.

Secu­ri­ty forces fol­lowed leads to a tar­get­ed loca­tion in the dis­trict, where Afghan and coali­tion forces con­duct­ed a search after secur­ing the com­pound. While secur­ing the loca­tion Awal Jan, who was armed, threat­ened the secu­ri­ty force, result­ing in him being killed. The secu­ri­ty force recov­ered an AK-47 rifle, a chest rack and ammu­ni­tion from Awal Jan. In oth­er Afghanistan news yesterday: 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces tar­get­ed a com­pound where an Islam­ic Jihad Union facil­i­ta­tor and sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained dur­ing an oper­a­tion in Dowlatabad dis­trict, Balkh province. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing the move­ment of for­eign fight­ers from Iran and Pak­istan into Afghanistan. Sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained based on ini­tial ques­tion­ing at the scene. 

— A sep­a­rate secu­ri­ty force searched a com­pound in Nahr‑e Shahi dis­trict where Afghan forces called for all occu­pants to exit build­ings peace­ful­ly before con­duct­ing a search. Sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained based on ini­tial ques­tion­ing at the scene. 

— In Arghandab dis­trict, Kan­da­har province, a com­bined Afghan secu­ri­ty force and ISAF patrol found a weapons cache con­sist­ing of 14 anti-per­son­nel mines, six grenades, three ini­tia­tors, one sack of ball bear­ings, five blocks of explo­sives, sev­en rock­et-pro­pelled-grenade war­heads, sev­en mor­tars and loose ammu­ni­tion. Also in the dis­trict a sep­a­rate Afghan army and ISAF patrol found six 82 mm rounds. 

— In Pan­jwa’i dis­trict, Kan­da­har province, a com­bined patrol dis­cov­ered 450 pounds of marijuana. 

— In Gelan dis­trict, Ghazni province, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor along with one sus­pect­ed insur­gent. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for pro­vid­ing detailed reports to senior Tal­iban lead­ers to assist them in ambush attacks against Afghan and coali­tion vehi­cles in the area. The facil­i­ta­tor and one sus­pect­ed insur­gent were detained based on ini­tial ques­tion­ing at the scene. 

— In Nan­garhar province, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a Tal­iban leader dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Surkh Rod dis­trict. The leader oper­at­ed out of Pachir wa Agam dis­trict, and was respon­si­ble for plan­ning and orga­niz­ing attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and coali­tion forces in Jalal­abad and sur­round­ing areas. Reports led the secu­ri­ty forces to the tar­get­ed com­pound in the dis­trict, where Afghan forces called for all occu­pants to exit the build­ings peace­ful­ly before con­duct­ing a search. The Tal­iban leader iden­ti­fied him­self as the tar­get­ed insur­gent and was detained. 

— A Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor and two sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained by Afghan and coali­tion forces dur­ing an oper­a­tion in Nadir Shah Kot dis­trict, Khost province. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for the facil­i­ta­tion and exe­cu­tion of an immi­nent sui­cide-vehi­cle-borne IED attack against Afghan army and coali­tion forces. The facil­i­ta­tor was iden­ti­fied as the tar­get­ed insur­gent by an indi­vid­ual in the com­pound and was detained. The two addi­tion­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained based on ini­tial ques­tion­ing at the scene. 

— In Ghazi­abad dis­trict, Kunar province, an ISAF patrol received small-arms fire from an unknown num­ber of insur­gents. After gain­ing pos­i­tive iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, coali­tion forces request­ed close air sup­port and engaged the ene­my posi­tion, killing one insurgent. 

— In Nur­garam dis­trict, Nuris­tan province, an ISAF patrol dis­cov­ered 80 pounds of home­made explosives. 

— In Kah­mard dis­trict, Bamyan province, an ISAF patrol found 58 82 mm rounds, two 107 mm rounds, two 81 mm rounds, four 81 mm mis­siles, one RPG round and one mine. 

— In Bamyan province, one Afghan child was killed and anoth­er wound­ed while play­ing with unex­plod­ed ord­nance in Kah­man dis­trict. Afghan sol­diers respond­ed to the scene of the inci­dent. The wound­ed child was trans­port­ed to a local hospital. 

— In Andar dis­trict, Ghazni province, an ISAF patrol observed two insur­gents with weapons on a motor­cy­cle. After estab­lish­ing pos­i­tive iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, coali­tion forces engaged the ene­my posi­tion with one Hell­fire mis­sile, killing the two insurgents. 

— A secu­ri­ty force con­duct­ed a weapons cache recov­er oper­a­tion in Khan­abad dis­trict, Kun­duz province. The force destroyed 27 OG9 rock­ets, 14 pro­pelling charges and one mor­tar tube. 

— An ISAF patrol was engaged with insur­gent small-arms fire in Kaja­ki dis­trict, Hel­mand province. After gain­ing pos­i­tive iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, the unit returned small-arms fire and high-explo­sive mor­tar rounds. After observ­ing good effects on the insur­gent posi­tion, the unit was engaged from a dif­fer­ent fir­ing point. As the engage­ment con­tin­ued, the ISAF unit con­tin­ued shelling the insur­gent posi­tion with mor­tar rounds and an air weapons team also engaged the posi­tion. Ini­tial report­ing indi­cates more than 10 insur­gents were killed in the fight­ing with no ISAF injuries. 

— A com­bined dis­mount­ed patrol in Zharay dis­trict, Kan­da­har province found a weapons cache con­sist­ing of 500 7.62 mm rounds, one AK-47 and five AK-47 magazines. 

— In Pan­jwa’i dis­trict, Kan­da­har province, a com­bined patrol dis­cov­ered 26 rock­et-pro­pelled grenade motors, two AK-47s, 301 9 mm rounds, 54 23 mm rounds, along with oth­er assort­ed weapons and ammu­ni­tion. All of the con­fis­cat­ed weapons have been or will be destroyed. 

In Feb. 8 Afghanistan news: 

— A joint Afghan and ISAF patrol detained a sus­pect­ed Tal­iban leader and an asso­ciate in Sayyid­abad dis­trict, War­dak province. The tar­get was detained by Afghan forces for alleged­ly com­mand­ing approx­i­mate­ly 20 fight­ers in War­dak, mov­ing groups of fight­ers back and forth from Pak­istan to Afghanistan and fund­ing Tal­iban groups in the area. 

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

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