Force Captures Insurgent Leaders in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2011 — Com­bined Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured insur­gent lead­ers, detained sus­pect­ed insur­gents and seized weapons in numer­ous oper­a­tions through­out Afghanistan in recent days, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

In oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— In Hel­mand province’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict, a com­bined patrol detained an insur­gent respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment and secu­ri­ty forces. The force seized a pis­tol, two assault rifles with a thou­sand rounds, $6,000 in U.S. cur­ren­cy and com­mu­ni­ca­tion devices. 

— A com­bined patrol cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained two addi­tion­al sus­pects in Kan­da­har province’s Kan­da­har dis­trict. The leader man­u­fac­tured home­made explosives. 

‑In Kapisa province’s Tagab dis­trict, a com­bined patrol destroyed two vehi­cle-borne explosives. 

In Oct. 10 operations: 

— A com­bined patrol in Pak­ti­ka province’s Gomal dis­trict killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader who over­sees insur­gents in the province’s cen­tral region. A secu­ri­ty force killed an armed man who threat­ened them. Lat­er, sev­er­al armed insur­gents engaged the force, which returned fire, killing all of the fight­ers. The force also seized five assault rifles, five rock­et-pro­pelled grenade rounds, a recoil­less rifle and bomb-mak­ing materials. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict, a com­bined patrol seized and destroyed four con­tain­ers of home­made explo­sives, two pres­sure plates, three 82 mm mor­tar rounds and two anti-per­son­nel mines. 

— A com­bined patrol in the Shinkai dis­trict of Zab­ul province seized and destroyed 33 pounds of refined ammo­ni­um nitrate, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, two bomb det­o­na­tors, three antiper­son­nel mines, five artillery rounds and com­mu­ni­ca­tion devices. 

— In Helmand’s San­gin dis­trict, a com­bined patrol seized and destroyed 318 gal­lons of a nar­cotics-cut­ting agent, 100 bar­rels and 30 bags of a pre­cur­sor chemical. 

— A com­bined patrol detained an insur­gent leader and two oth­ers in the Qarah Bagh dis­trict of Ghazni province. The leader is respon­si­ble for numer­ous com­plex attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. Afghan forces also seized small arms and com­mu­ni­ca­tion devices. 

In Oct. 9 operations: 

— A com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban oper­a­tive in the Muham­mad Aghah dis­trict of Log­ar province, where he plans car-bomb attacks. The secu­ri­ty force seized a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er and ammunition. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Kun­duz dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban road­side-bomb expert respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan forces and local res­i­dents. The force seized bomb-mak­ing materials. 

— A com­bined force patrol in Helmand’s Musa Qalah dis­trict found and destroyed 100 pounds of home­made explo­sives and 10 pres­sure plates. 

— In Helmand’s Kaja­ki dis­trict, a com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who coor­di­nates road­side-bomb attacks and reports to senior Tal­iban lead­ers. He also pro­vides weapons and guid­ance to insur­gent fight­ers in the area. 

— A com­bined force in the Achin dis­trict of Nan­garhar province cap­tured a Tal­iban leader who moved weapons from Pak­istan to Afghanistan for the insur­gency. The force killed an insur­gent at the scene who threat­ened them with a pis­tol. The force detained mul­ti­ple oth­er sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— In Ghazni province’s Gelan dis­trict, a com­bined patrol detained numer­ous insur­gents who are sus­pect­ed of being part of a net­work respon­si­ble for mul­ti­ple attacks on Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Hezb-e-Isla­mi Gul­bud­din leader and detained mul­ti­ple addi­tion­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents in the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province. The leader coor­di­nat­ed and con­duct­ed road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan forces. The force seized mul­ti­ple weapons. 

— In Pak­tia province’s Zur­mat dis­trict, a com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who man­ages insur­gent activ­i­ty and acquires weapons for use in attacks against Afghan forces. 

— In Ghazni province’s Deh Yak dis­trict, a com­bined force seized two 82 mm recoil­less rifle rounds, six grenade fus­es and ammunition. 

In Oct. 8 operations: 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force in Khost province’s Ter­ayzai dis­trict cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader who was involved in the abduc­tions of peo­ple asso­ci­at­ed with Afghan forces, as well as car-bomb attacks tar­get­ing gov­ern­ment instal­la­tions. The force found a mod­el, like­ly used for attack plan­ning, and mul­ti­ple mil­i­tary uniforms. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Qalah-ye Zal dis­trict, a com­bined secu­ri­ty force killed two Tal­iban lead­ers and detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The lead­ers were respon­si­ble for road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials. The insur­gent lead­ers, who were armed with assault rifles and grenades, were killed after they engaged the secu­ri­ty force. 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force in Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for the destruc­tion of infra­struc­ture in Zab­ul province, as well as abduc­tions of Afghan civilians. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent. The leader facil­i­tat­ed mur­der and intim­i­da­tion cam­paigns against local res­i­dents and led direct-fire and road­side-bomb attacks tar­get­ing Afghan forces. 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force in Pak­tia province’s Gardez dis­trict detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who acquires weapons for insur­gents and directs attacks tar­get­ing Afghan forces in the Zur­mat and Gardez districts. 

— In Ghazni province’s Gelan dis­trict, a com­bined secu­ri­ty force patrol detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents who are sus­pect­ed of being a part of a net­work respon­si­ble for attacks on Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

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