Combined Security Force Detains Taliban Leader

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained a Tal­iban leader and killed sev­er­al armed insur­gents in the Zharay dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Kan­da­har province yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The leader was respon­si­ble for road­side bomb and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces in the Zharay and Pan­jwa’i districts. 

While con­duct­ing the search, the secu­ri­ty force encoun­tered sev­er­al armed insur­gents. The insur­gents opened fire on the com­bined force which then engaged the insur­gent group, killing sev­er­al. The secu­ri­ty force con­tin­ued search­ing for the Tal­iban leader and detained him after the engagement. 

In oth­er Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— An Afghan-led force detained a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in the Archi dis­trict of Kun­duz province. The secu­ri­ty force was call­ing out the facil­i­ta­tor when they noticed sev­er­al armed indi­vid­u­als tak­ing offen­sive posi­tions. Assess­ing an imme­di­ate threat, the force engaged one of the armed indi­vid­u­als, wound­ing him. While secur­ing the wound­ed indi­vid­ual, the secu­ri­ty force not­ed he was wear­ing an Afghan nation­al police uni­form. The secu­ri­ty force pro­vid­ed imme­di­ate med­ical care and called for a med­ical evac­u­a­tion. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the ANP offi­cer died dur­ing med­ical evac­u­a­tion. “We are deeply sad­dened by this unfor­tu­nate inci­dent,” said an ISAF secu­ri­ty force com­man­der. “The death of any Afghan is some­thing ISAF takes very seri­ous­ly. Our deep­est apolo­gies go to his fam­i­ly, the ANP and the Afghan gov­ern­ment.” The tar­get­ed facil­i­ta­tor, respon­si­ble for the move­ment and sale of heavy weapons and ammu­ni­tion, was detained by the secu­ri­ty force. 

— In the Zharay dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, an Afghan-led force detained numer­ous sus­pects dur­ing a clear­ance oper­a­tion. The secu­ri­ty force also dis­cov­ered an explo­sives facil­i­ty and iden­ti­fied it as an imme­di­ate threat to local civil­ians. After ensur­ing no civil­ians were in the area, the force called in an airstrike to destroy the facility. 

Addi­tion­al road­side bomb mate­ri­als were also dis­cov­ered and destroyed dur­ing the operation. 

— In the Qalat dis­trict of Zab­ul province, an Afghan-led force detained numer­ous sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor. The facil­i­ta­tor arranges road­side bomb emplace­ments along High­way 1 in the Qalat district. 

— An Afghan-led force detained two sus­pects in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The tar­get of the oper­a­tion was a Tal­iban leader who directs an insur­gent cell and con­ducts attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— An Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader in the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province. The leader is respon­si­ble for road­side bomb emplace­ments tar­get­ing Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— Also in the Sabari dis­trict, an Afghan-led force detained two sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani leader respon­si­ble for attacks against the Afghan army. 

— In the Zur­mat dis­trict of Pak­tiya province, an Afghan-led force detained two sus­pects. The force was search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who pro­vides guid­ance and reports to insur­gents in the Mata Khan district. 

— In the Ghazni dis­trict of Ghazni province, an Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for procur­ing and dis­sem­i­nat­ing weapons and sup­plies to insur­gents. The secu­ri­ty force also con­fis­cat­ed vehi­cle-born impro­vised explo­sive device mate­ri­als, grenades, an AK-47 rifle with sev­er­al mag­a­zines and a chest rack. 

— A coali­tion patrol dis­cov­ered a weapons cache in the Kan­da­har dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The cache con­tained 103 mor­tar rounds that were destroyed. 

In July 17 Afghanistan operations: 

— An Afghan-led com­bined secu­ri­ty force detained numer­ous sus­pects and con­fis­cat­ed sev­er­al weapons while search­ing for a Haqqani leader in the Ter­ayzai dis­trict of Khost province. Weapons seized includ­ed grenades, an AK-47 rifle with sev­er­al mag­a­zines, a rifle and a chest rack. The Haqqani leader is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing attacks against the Afghan army. 

— In the Ban­gi dis­trict of Takhar province, an Afghan-led force detained one sus­pect while search­ing for an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan leader. The leader directs insur­gents and acts as a liai­son to the Tal­iban net­work, insur­gent lead­ers in Pak­istan, and IMU con­tacts in Afghanistan and Iran. 

— An Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Chim­tal dis­trict of Balkh province. The tar­get­ed leader is respon­si­ble for obtain­ing sup­plies and col­lect­ing tax­es to fund Tal­iban oper­a­tions in west­ern Balkh province. 

— In the Pan­jwa’i dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, an Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader. The leader is respon­si­ble for road­side bomb attacks and the move­ment of bomb mate­ri­als in east­ern Pan­jwa’i. Also in Pan­jwa’i, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained one sus­pect while con­duct­ing a clear­ance operation. 

— In the Shah Joy dis­trict of Zab­ul province, an Afghan-led force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and two sus­pects. The leader coor­di­nates attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— In the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province, an Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader. The Tal­iban leader directs attacks in the dis­trict, and also arranges shel­ter, food, equip­ment, and guid­ance to Tal­iban fighters. 

— An Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in the Zur­mat dis­trict of Pak­tiya province. The Tal­iban mem­ber pro­vides guid­ance to insur­gents in the Mata Khan dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province. 

— In Sabari the dis­trict of Khost province, an Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force detained a Haqqani leader and two asso­ciates. The Haqqani leader coor­di­nat­ed road­side bomb and oth­er attacks against the Afghan army. 

— Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force offi­cials con­firmed the death of Khan Wali, a Tal­iban leader who oper­at­ed in the Kuz Kunar dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. Wali was the tar­get of a July 17 oper­a­tion that killed more than 10 insur­gents. He was respon­si­ble for lead­ing fight­ers in attacks against Afghan offi­cials and secu­ri­ty forces. 

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

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