Afghanistan — Troops Seeking Taliban Leader Kill Insurgent

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force killed an insur­gent in the Sayed Abad dis­trict of Afghanistan’s War­dak province yes­ter­day while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
The want­ed man com­mands a Tal­iban cell that con­ducts road­side-bomb attacks and road­blocks along the heav­i­ly trav­elled High­way 1, offi­cials said.

Act­ing on intel­li­gence reports, the com­bined force tar­get­ed a com­pound in the dis­trict. While mov­ing into posi­tion, the force noticed two armed insur­gents attempt­ing to escape. The force pur­sued the insur­gents, killing one and cap­tur­ing the other. 

In oth­er oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— A com­bined force in Balkh province’s Cha­har Bolak dis­trict cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and three of his asso­ciates in an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion. The force found a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er with mul­ti­ple war­heads, some blast­ing caps, an assault rifle, grenades and a chest rack at the scene. 

— In Bagh­lan province’s Talah wa Bar­fak dis­trict, a com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader. 

— A com­bined force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion in Kan­da­har province’s Mai­wand dis­trict cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who coor­di­nat­ed sui­cide-bomb attacks and direct attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces and acquired weapons for oth­er insur­gents. Two of the facilitator’s asso­ciates also were detained. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict, a com­bined patrol found and con­fis­cat­ed 198 pounds of dry opium. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and sev­er­al of his asso­ciates in an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion in Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor was involved in arm­ing insur­gents with heavy weapons in the area. 

— In Pak­tia province’s Zad­ran dis­trict, a com­bined force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader who com­mands 30 expe­ri­enced fight­ers and leads them in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained five sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a clear­ance oper­a­tion in Khost province’s Sper­ah dis­trict. The force cleared sev­er­al build­ings in two loca­tions. They inter­viewed local civil­ians about insur­gent activ­i­ty in the area, and based on the infor­ma­tion the res­i­dents pro­vid­ed, they detained the sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— In an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion in Khost province’s Bak dis­trict, a com­bined force detained an insur­gent while search­ing for a Hezb‑E Isla­mi Gul­bud­din facil­i­ta­tor who aids the move­ment of muni­tions for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. The force found an assault rifle and a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade at the scene. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Now Zad dis­trict, coali­tion forces on a dis­mount­ed patrol killed an insur­gent who engaged them with indi­rect fire. 

— A com­bined force in Kan­da­har province’s Mai­wand dis­trict found 121 pounds of hashish, 88 pounds of opi­um, an assault rifle with three mag­a­zines, and three cell phones. 

In May 14 operations: 

— Three insur­gents were killed and three oth­ers were detained after they fired on a joint Afghan police and Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force patrol in Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict. The com­bined force con­fis­cat­ed two machine guns, ammu­ni­tion, an ammu­ni­tion belt, two radios, four assault rifle mag­a­zines, a motor­cy­cle bat­tery, a tac­ti­cal vest, two pis­tols with hol­sters, three cell phones and a pair of binoculars. 

— A coali­tion airstrike killed sev­er­al insur­gents in Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict after the insur­gents fired at coali­tion forces on the ground from a known ene­my fir­ing position. 

— A com­bined patrol found two rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­ers, two 62 mm mor­tar rounds, a pres­sure-plate bomb, an anti-tank mine and two cell phones in Ghazni province’s Dehyak district. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing weapons and ammu­ni­tion dis­tri­b­u­tion to insur­gents in the dis­trict. He also con­duct­ed road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. The force wrapped up its search by safe­ly destroy­ing rifles and chest racks found dur­ing the operation. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in War­dak province’s Sayyid­abad district. 

— In Log­ar province’s Charkh dis­trict, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a clear­ance operation. 

— A com­bined force killed an insur­gent while cap­tur­ing a Tal­iban leader and two of his asso­ciates in Balkh province’s Chim­tal dis­trict. Numer­ous reports indi­cat­ed the leader’s loca­tion, where forces saw sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents attempt­ing to avoid cap­ture. The force pur­sued and caught three of them, and one con­tin­ued to flee. Once the force locat­ed him, he respond­ed by demon­strat­ing hos­tile intent and was killed, offi­cials said. The force safe­ly destroyed a rock­et-pro­pelled-grenade launch­er, rifles and chest racks found at the scene. 

— A com­bined patrol found four drug weapons caches in Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwai district. 

In May 13 operations: 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained sev­er­al insur­gents and found and destroyed 176 pounds of opi­um dur­ing a coun­ternar­cotics oper­a­tion in Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces found and destroyed a ton of dry opi­um in Nim­roz province’s Cha­har Bur­jak district. 

— In Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict, Afghan and coali­tion forces killed two insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion to pre­vent a Tal­iban indi­rect-fire weapons team from car­ry­ing out an attack. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader and sev­er­al of his asso­ciates in Pak­tia province’s Dzad­ran district.

— In Pak­ti­ka province’s Bermal dis­trict, a coali­tion airstrike killed sev­er­al insur­gents armed with rock­et-pro­pelled grenades. 

— A coali­tion patrol in Ghazni province’s Zanakhan dis­trict found and destroyed a machine gun, a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er, rifle rounds, two mor­tar tubes, an assault rifle and bomb-mak­ing components. 

In May 12 operations: 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a sus­pect after a vehi­cle inter­dic­tion oper­a­tion in Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict result­ed in dis­cov­ery of 661 pounds of wet opium. 

— A com­bined patrol cap­tured a mid-lev­el Tal­iban leader in Uruz­gan province’s Shahid‑e Hasas district. 

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

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