Combined Force Captures Taliban Leader

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2012 — An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Hel­mand province today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

One addi­tion­al sus­pect was detained, offi­cials said. 

The Tal­iban leader moved sup­plies for fight­ers and direct­ed an insur­gent cell spe­cial­iz­ing in bomb attacks through­out the province. 

In oth­er Afghanistan oper­a­tions today: 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader and detained anoth­er sus­pect in the Pul‑e Alam dis­trict of Log­ar province. The leader con­duct­ed attacks against Afghan forces. 

— Also in Logar’s Pul‑e Alam dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader who direct­ed road­side-bomb and direct-fire attacks against Afghan forces. 

— An Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor and detained two oth­er sus­pects in the Khost dis­trict of Khost province. The facil­i­ta­tor sup­plied explo­sives for use in attacks against Afghan forces. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained two oth­er sus­pects in the Arghandab dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The facil­i­ta­tor sup­plied insur­gents with explosives. 

— In Kandahar’s Mai­wand dis­trict, a com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who con­ducts direct-fire and road­side-bomb attacks. 

— A com­bined force in Helmand’s Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who dis­trib­utes ammu­ni­tion and weapons to insurgents. 

In oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— In Helmand’s Washir dis­trict, an Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for an insur­gent leader respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— An Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed force detained two sus­pects in the Shah Joy and Qalat dis­tricts of Zab­ul province. 

In Feb. 4 operations: 

— Afghan sol­diers and police cap­tured a sus­pect­ed Tal­iban bomb mak­er and weapons man­u­fac­tur­er in Zabul’s Mizan dis­trict. The Afghan forces also con­fis­cat­ed numer­ous weapons, a motor­cy­cle and bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als. The oper­a­tion was devel­oped from Afghan intel­li­gence reports. Plan­ning, coor­di­na­tion and exe­cu­tion of the mis­sion was a joint effort involv­ing the Afghan army, the nation­al police and the nation­al secu­ri­ty ser­vice, offi­cials said. 

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