Combined Force in Khost Province Kills Insurgents

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor in the Nadir Shah dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Khost province yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The facil­i­ta­tor, who was respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing small-arms and indi­rect-fire attacks, also pur­chased equip­ment and sup­plies for insur­gents in the area. 

While search­ing the area, the secu­ri­ty force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and wound­ed anoth­er dur­ing an engage­ment and lat­er con­fis­cat­ed sev­er­al assault rifles, bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and chest racks fol­low­ing the engage­ment. Com­plet­ing the oper­a­tion, the secu­ri­ty force locat­ed and detained the tar­get­ed facil­i­ta­tor and mul­ti­ple associates. 

In oth­er oper­a­tions through­out Afghanistan yesterday: 

— In Bagh­lan province’s Pul‑e Khum­ri dis­trict, a com­bined force detained a Tal­iban leader and one of his asso­ciates. The leader direct­ed a cell of fight­ers in road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan forces and levied ille­gal tax­es on local civilians. 

— A com­bined force in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for a cell of ene­my fight­ers in the district. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader who is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing road­side-bomb and direct-action attacks against Afghan forces. 

— A com­bined force in Pak­ti­ka province’s Orgun dis­trict cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader who direct­ed a large cell of fight­ers in con­duct­ing road­side-bomb attacks in the dis­trict. The com­bined force also detained sev­er­al of his associates. 

— In Kapisa province’s Tagab dis­trict, a com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who con­ducts road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan forces. 

— A coali­tion in Ghazni province’s Ghazni dis­trict found and safe­ly destroyed 562 pounds of home­made explo­sives and var­i­ous bomb-mak­ing materials. 

In Aug. 20 operations: 

— A com­bined patrol tar­get­ing a road­side-bomb net­work in Hel­mand province’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict seized and safe­ly destroyed 425 pounds of home­made explo­sive mate­r­i­al, 18 pres­sure plates, six bat­tery packs, four grenades, remote-con­trol det­o­na­tion com­po­nents and small-arms ammunition. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Kun­duz dis­trict, a com­bined force found and safe­ly destroyed eight mor­tar rounds. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and sev­er­al asso­ciates in Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwai dis­trict. The Tal­iban leader was respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing attacks and acquir­ing weapons for insur­gents in the dis­trict. The force also destroyed an unsta­ble explo­sive ordi­nance facil­i­ty dur­ing the oper­a­tion, neu­tral­iz­ing the threat to Afghan civil­ians in the area. 

— In Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion, yes­ter­day. The detained leader was respon­si­ble for lead­ing attacks against Afghan forces in the dis­trict, and he coor­di­nat­ed road­side-bomb place­ments and facil­i­tat­ed weapons for oth­er insurgents. 

— A com­bined force destroyed an unsta­ble explo­sive ordi­nance facil­i­ty and detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict. The operation’s tar­get was a Tal­iban leader involved in the facil­i­ta­tion, move­ment and prepa­ra­tion of heavy weapons through­out the upper Gereshk area. 

— In War­dak province’s Nerkh dis­trict, a com­bined force killed two insur­gents and detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Hezb‑e Isla­mi Gul­bud­din ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion leader who is the body­guard for the high­est appoint­ed Hezb‑e Isla­mi Gul­bud­din dis­trict leader. While search­ing for the leader, the force noticed sev­er­al armed insur­gents hid­ing in a near­by tree line. After they iden­ti­fied the threat, the force fired at the armed insur­gents, killing two. Fol­low­ing the engage­ment, the force seized mul­ti­ple grenades, assault rifles and chest racks. 

— A com­bined force act­ing on tips from local civil­ians killed two insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Haqqani net­work leader in Pak­tia province’s Zur­mat dis­trict. The tar­get­ed leader is respon­si­ble for build­ing road­side bombs and coor­di­nat­ing direct-action ene­my attacks in the dis­trict. The two insur­gents who were killed were armed with grenades, assault rifles, blast­ing caps for explo­sives, det­o­na­tion cord and chest racks. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict, a com­bined patrol seized five grenades, 174 pounds of explo­sives, eight det­o­na­tors, 18 pres­sures plates and var­i­ous bomb-mak­ing materials. 

In Aug. 19 operations: 

— A com­bined oper­a­tion result­ed in seizure and destruc­tion of 463 pounds of wet opi­um and deten­tion of two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Kan­da­har province’s Mai­wand district. 

— A com­bined patrol tar­get­ing a road­side-bomb net­work in Uruz­gan province’s Tarin Kot dis­trict detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— A com­bined force in Kan­da­har city, Kan­da­har province, detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for an insur­gent leader respon­si­ble for plan­ning immi­nent attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment com­pounds through­out the provin­cial capital. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Ali­abad dis­trict, a com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who facil­i­tates the move­ment and acqui­si­tion of weapons for insur­gents in the district. 

— A com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for build­ing and sup­ply­ing road­side bombs to Tal­iban fight­ers in the area. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader who plans and con­ducts direct-action and road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan forces. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search in Pak­tia province’s Zur­mat dis­trict for a Haqqani net­work leader who coor­di­nates road­side-bomb and direct-action attacks Afghan forces. 

— In Log­ar province’s Charkh dis­trict, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for man­u­fac­tur­ing road­side bombs and mov­ing roadside-bomb 

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