Combined Force Captures 2 Haqqani Leaders

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 12, 2012 — An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured two Haqqani net­work lead­ers and five addi­tion­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a March 10 oper­a­tion in the Pul‑e Alam dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Log­ar province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

One leader over­saw the con­struc­tion of road­side bombs and the oth­er direct­ed the emplace­ment of those bombs for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces, offi­cials said. 

The two Haqqani lead­ers also are sus­pect­ed in plot­ting the assas­si­na­tion of an Afghan army divi­sion commander. 

The secu­ri­ty force also seized a sui­cide vest, bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and mor­tar rounds dur­ing the operation. 

In oth­er March 10 Afghanistan operations: 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained two sus­pects in the Kun­duz dis­trict of Kun­duz province. The Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor pro­vid­ed weapons and sup­plies to insur­gents oper­at­ing in Khan­abad dis­trict. The cap­tured facil­i­ta­tor also is sus­pect­ed in a plot to con­duct a prison break to free an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan terrorist. 

— In a sep­a­rate oper­a­tion in the same dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained anoth­er sus­pect. The leader coor­di­nat­ed road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan and coali­tion troops and is sus­pect­ed in plan­ning sui­cide attacks. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained anoth­er sus­pect in the Nad‑e Ali dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader direct­ed attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined patrol found an assault rifle, 800 rounds of small-arms ammu­ni­tion, 132 pounds of home­made explo­sives and bomb-mak­ing com­po­nents in the Tarin Kot dis­trict of Uruz­gan province. 

— A com­bined force detained five sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Gelan dis­trict of Ghazni province. The leader directs road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces along High­way 1. 

In a March 9 oper­a­tion, a com­bined force found 10,890 pounds of explo­sive mate­ri­als in Ghazni’s Ghazni district. 

Source:
From an Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Release