Afghanistan — Taliban Commander Killed in Zabul Province

KABUL, Afghanistan (July 11) — An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force killed Malauwi Shah­bud­din, a Tal­iban com­man­der and for­eign-fight­er facil­i­ta­tor, along with sev­er­al armed insur­gents in Shah Joy dis­trict, Zab­ul province yes­ter­day.

An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed Malauwi Shah­bud­din, a dual-hat­ted Tal­iban com­man­der and for­eign fight­er facil­i­ta­tor, along with sev­er­al armed insur­gents as they were emplac­ing an IED in Shah Joy dis­trict in north­east­ern Zab­ul province yes­ter­day. The insur­gents were equipped with machine guns, IED con­struc­tion mate­ri­als, RPG launch­ers with rock­ets and grenades. Addi­tion­al­ly, IED mak­ing mate­ri­als, hand grenades, var­i­ous small arms, RPG launch­ers, and mul­ti­ple RPG rock­ets along with two motor­cy­cles laden with explo­sives were found dur­ing the sub­se­quent search of the area. The secu­ri­ty force destroyed the weapons and motor­cy­cles at the scene. Source: DoD pho­to Click to enlarge

The com­man­der was respon­si­ble for mov­ing impro­vised explo­sive device (IED) mate­r­i­al and for­eign fight­ers into Shah Joy dis­trict from Pak­istan. The secu­ri­ty force approached a group of heav­i­ly armed insur­gents in the process of emplac­ing an IED in an area in north­east Zab­ul province. As they attempt­ed to appre­hend them, an insur­gent det­o­nat­ed a grenade near the secu­ri­ty force. The secu­ri­ty force engaged and killed the insur­gents to include Shah­bud­din, and also detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

Upon fur­ther inspec­tion, the secu­ri­ty force dis­cov­ered one of the insur­gents had attempt­ed to boo­by trap him­self by plac­ing a hand grenade under his body. The boo­by trap was ren­dered safe. Machine guns, IED mak­ing mate­ri­als and RPG launch­ers with rock­ets and grenades were found with the insur­gents. More IED mak­ing mate­ri­als, hand grenades, var­i­ous small arms, RPG launch­ers with mul­ti­ple RPG rock­ets and two motor­cy­cles laden with explo­sives were found dur­ing a sub­se­quent search of the area. The secu­ri­ty force destroyed the weapons and motor­cy­cles at the scene. 

No civil­ians or secu­ri­ty forces were injured dur­ing this operation. 

Press release
Com­piled from Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Releases