Combined Force Captures Taliban Leader

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2012 — An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader in the Mai­wand dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Kan­da­har province today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The insur­gent leader con­duct­ed direct-fire and road­side-bomb attacks against coali­tion forces through­out the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict, offi­cials said. 

Sev­er­al addi­tion­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained dur­ing the oper­a­tion, offi­cials added. 

In Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— An Afghan cri­sis response force detained one per­son and con­fis­cat­ed stolen equip­ment and weapons in the Kab­ul dis­trict of Kab­ul province. The detainee is linked to the theft of coali­tion equip­ment and weapons and sell­ing the items to insur­gents and crim­i­nal gangs in the Kab­ul area. No civil­ians were harmed dur­ing the operation. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and anoth­er sus­pect in the Mar­jah dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The facil­i­ta­tor dis­trib­uted weapons and ammu­ni­tion to insur­gent fighters. 

In Feb. 11 operations: 

— A com­bined force con­fis­cat­ed firearms and detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader in the Ter­ayzai dis­trict of Khost province. The leader oper­ates in the Bak, Sabari and Ter­ayzai dis­tricts, where he dis­trib­utes weapons and mon­ey to insur­gents and plans attacks against Afghan forces. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained two oth­er sus­pects in the Zur­mat dis­trict of Pak­tia province. The leader con­duct­ed attacks against Afghan forces through­out the district. 

— In Kandahar’s Mai­wand dis­trict, an Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed force found and destroyed weapons, com­mu­ni­ca­tions equip­ment, bomb-mak­ing com­po­nents and explo­sive chem­i­cals, and detained three sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— A com­bined force in Helmand’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who dis­trib­utes weapons and plans attacks in the Mai­wand district. 

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