Combined Security Forces Kill, Detain Several Insurgents

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained sev­er­al oth­ers dur­ing an overnight secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion yes­ter­day tar­get­ing an insur­gent leader respon­si­ble for direct­ing attacks against Afghan forces in the Sherzad dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Nan­garhar province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The Afghan-led force encoun­tered sev­er­al armed insur­gents and spot­ted insur­gents tak­ing up fir­ing posi­tions with assault rifles. Sev­er­al insur­gents were killed in the ensu­ing fight. 

In oth­er oper­a­tions in Afghanistan yesterday: 

— A com­bined force killed two insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion in Sar‑e Pul province’s Sar‑e Pul dis­trict. After being noti­fied of two insur­gents con­duct­ing Tal­iban oper­a­tions in the area, the Afghan-led force moved to detain them. One insur­gent reached for a rifle, prompt­ing the force to engage the armed men, killing both. The secu­ri­ty force found sev­er­al assault rifles, chest racks and loaded mag­a­zines while clear­ing the area. 

— In Pak­ti­ka province, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor in the Mata Khan district. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents while look­ing for a Haqqani leader respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing and con­duct­ing attacks against the Afghan army. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor and one of his asso­ciates in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for mov­ing fight­ers and weapons.

— In Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict, a com­bined force killed an insur­gent and detained sev­er­al oth­ers. The com­bined force found the insur­gents inside a com­pound, and with assis­tance from close air sup­port, engaged them, killing one. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Wash­er dis­trict, a com­bined force seized 220 pounds of opi­um and detained two insurgents. 

— A coali­tion force seized 37 40 mm grenades, 97 hand grenades and 89 fus­es in the Bamyan province’s Kah­mard district. 

In oper­a­tions July 3: 

— A com­bined force killed more than 15 insur­gents in Nan­garhar province’s Sherzad dis­trict. The operation’s goal was to seize an insur­gent weapons cache and to dis­rupt the flow of insur­gent fight­ers and weapons across west­ern Nan­garhar, offi­cials said. Dur­ing a search, the Afghan-led force encoun­tered mul­ti­ple groups of armed insur­gents who opened fire when the force tried to detain them peace­ful­ly. The force respond­ed, killing more than 15 insur­gents. Lat­er, the force found mul­ti­ple for­ti­fied fight­ing posi­tions and seized a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er, sev­er­al machine guns, grenades, assault rifles and chest racks. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in Balkh province’s Cha­har Bolak dis­trict. The leader con­duct­ed road­side-bomb and small-arms attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Archi dis­trict, an Afghan-led com­bined force detained sev­er­al peo­ple with sus­pect­ed Tal­iban ties. The oper­a­tion tar­get­ed a Tal­iban com­man­der who leads a bomb-attack net­work in the district. 

— Dur­ing clear­ing oper­a­tions in Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict, a com­bined force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained two others. 

— A com­bined patrol detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent leader in Uruz­gan province’s Tarin Kot dis­trict. The sus­pect­ed leader was detained for alleged­ly build­ing and dis­trib­ut­ing home­made bombs. Afghan author­i­ties detained sev­er­al oth­ers for fur­ther questioning. 

— A com­bined force detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor plant­ed road­side bombs, coor­di­nat­ed fight­ers’ move­ments and levied ille­gal tax­es against Afghan civil­ians for the Taliban. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Mar­ja dis­trict, a com­bined force detained sev­er­al peo­ple with sus­pect­ed ties to the Tal­iban and found 100 pounds of opi­um while look­ing for a Tal­iban leader who directs an attack cell in the area. His cell is respon­si­ble for mul­ti­ple road­side-bomb attacks and solic­its nar­cotics, heavy machine guns and rockets. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Kaja­ki dis­trict, an Afghan-led com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for the senior Tal­iban mil­i­tary leader oper­at­ing in the province’s San­gin district. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani leader and two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Pak­ti­ka province’s Mata Khan dis­trict. The leader was respon­si­ble for con­duct­ing, coor­di­nat­ing and direct­ing road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, an Afghan-led com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani leader and two sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The leader par­tic­i­pat­ed in attacks against the Afghan army and pro­vid­ed train­ing for indi­rect-fire attacks. 

In oper­a­tions July 2: 

— A com­bined force killed sev­er­al insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in Kun­duz province’s Archi dis­trict. The leader directs attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and secu­ri­ty forces. Dur­ing the search, the force pur­sued sev­er­al armed insur­gents. The insur­gents engaged the force, result­ing in sev­er­al insur­gents being killed. The force found a grenade launch­er and sev­er­al grenades. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwai dis­trict, a secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban bomb-mak­er and one of his associates. 

— An Afghan-led com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in Kan­da­har province’s Dand dis­trict. He was respon­si­ble for pur­chas­ing and deliv­er­ing weapons and ammu­ni­tion in Kan­da­har City. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Now Zad dis­trict, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for the Taliban’s gov­ern­ing offi­cial for oper­a­tions in the Wash­er district. 

— In Nan­garhar province’s Sherzad dis­trict, a com­bined force killed an insur­gent and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for the Taliban’s gov­ern­ing offi­cial for oper­a­tions in west­ern Nan­garhar. The Afghan-led force saw sev­er­al armed insur­gents flee­ing the area, and an engage­ment fol­lowed when the force tried to stop them. The force found about 70 pounds of explosives. 

— A com­bined force in Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict, detained a man with sus­pect­ed Tal­iban ties while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for sev­er­al attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader and two asso­ciates. The leader facil­i­tat­ed sui­cide bombers and stored weapons and explo­sives at his home. 

— Also in Khost’s Sabari dis­trict, an Afghan-led com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for build­ing, mov­ing and plant­i­ng road­side bombs. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Ghazni province’s Ghazni dis­trict dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan forces. 

— In Her­at province’s Shin­dand dis­trict, a coali­tion patrol seized 23 rock­et boost­ers, an 80 mm rock­et war­head, three rock­ets, sev­en launch charges, 20 grenades, oth­er muni­tions and 2 pounds of TNT. 

In oper­a­tions July 1: 

— A com­bined force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent in Balkh province’s Balkh dis­trict while search­ing for the Taliban’s dis­trict chief. Insur­gents armed with assault rifles attacked the Afghan-led force. The force returned fire, killing sev­er­al insur­gents, and detained a man with sus­pect­ed insur­gent ties. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Cha­har Darah dis­trict, a com­bined force killed an insur­gent and cap­tured a leader of the Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion. The com­bined force killed the insur­gent after mak­ing numer­ous attempts to appre­hend him peacefully. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and one of his asso­ciates in Zab­ul province’s Qalat district. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Dand dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and two associates. 

— ‑In Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwai dis­trict, an Afghan-led com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and two sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The leader was respon­si­ble for plan­ning and exe­cut­ing attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces in Zharay and Pan­jwai districts. 

— In Hel­mand province’s San­gin dis­trict, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who coor­di­nates move­ments of mate­ri­als for insur­gents in the area. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for direct­ing and facil­i­tat­ing road­side-bomb attacks and sui­cide bombers. 

— A coali­tion airstrike killed sev­er­al insur­gents in Ghazni province’s Qarah Bagh dis­trict after they were observed plant­i­ng road­side bombs along a major highway. 

— In Pak­ti­ka province’s Saro­bi dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani leader and two of his asso­ciates. The leader con­duct­ed recon­nais­sance oper­a­tions tar­get­ing Afghan and coali­tion forces, pro­vid­ing infor­ma­tion to Haqqani lead­ers in Pakistan. 

— An Afghan-led com­bined force in Khost province detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor. The man acquires bomb mate­ri­als and weapons and coor­di­nates their trans­fer to fight­ers in the area. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing one man who was dis­guised in women’s cloth­ing, dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in Ghazni province’s Ghazni dis­trict. The leader directs attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

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

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