Combined Force Detains Haqqani Leader

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force yes­ter­day detained a Haqqani net­work leader and two of his asso­ciates dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Musa Khel dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Khost province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The Haqqani leader was involved in plan­ning an upcom­ing attack in Kab­ul city. Recent reports indi­cate he was con­sid­er­ing using a car bomb for the attack. 

In oth­er Afghanistan news yesterday: 

— In the Qalat dis­trict of Zab­ul province, a com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor. The facil­i­ta­tor assists with road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader in the San­gin dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader plans road­side-bomb attacks with sub­or­di­nate Tal­iban chiefs, and pro­vides weapons and mil­i­tary guid­ance to local insurgents. 

— A com­bined patrol detained two sus­pects dur­ing a search for an insur­gent leader in the San­gin dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader oper­ates in Kotozay vil­lage, and pro­vides sup­port and guid­ance for Tal­iban mem­bers in the district. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al Haqqani mem­bers in the Sayyid­abad dis­trict of War­dak province. The force was involved in oper­a­tions aimed at dis­rupt­ing a local attack cell, whose mem­bers report­ed­ly have been plan­ning an attack in Kab­ul city. 

— Com­bined forces in Region­al Com­mand East detained one sus­pect and found a weapons cache that con­tained mul­ti­ple assault rifles and a sui­cide-bomb vest. Bagram Air­field also received two rounds of indi­rect fire. No injuries and no dam­ages were report­ed. The inci­dent is under investigation. 

— A com­bined patrol seized an insur­gent leader and detained numer­ous sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Bala Boluk dis­trict of Farah province. The leader was respon­si­ble for sup­ply­ing lethal aid used in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. The patrol also con­fis­cat­ed and destroyed one 105mm artillery round and some small-arms ammunition. 

— A com­bined patrol seized a weapons cache dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Ghazni dis­trict of Ghazni province. The patrol also seized and destroyed sev­en mor­tar rounds and five rock­et-pro­pelled grenades. 

— In the Chorah dis­trict of Uruz­gan province, a coali­tion patrol dis­cov­ered a weapons cache con­tain­ing one 82mm mor­tar, one assault rifle, one .303-cal­iber rifle, 520 rounds of 7.62mm ammu­ni­tion, a web­bing set con­tain­ing three full assault rifle mag­a­zines, eight small-arms mag­a­zines, six rock­et-pro­pelled grenade war­heads, nine RPG pro­pel­lants, one rock­et motor, one RPG fuse and one radio anten­na. The cache will be destroyed. 

In Aug. 26 Afghanistan news: 

— A com­bined patrol detained an insur­gent leader dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Nad ‘Ali dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader was respon­si­ble for sup­ply­ing ammu­ni­tion and explo­sives used in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)