Forces Disrupt Taliban Operations in Zabul Province

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2011 — Com­bined forces dis­rupt­ed a Tal­iban meet­ing, killing numer­ous ene­my fight­ers and detain­ing sev­er­al oth­ers yes­ter­day in the Qalat dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Zab­ul province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

Forces were search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing bombs and oth­er weapons to mil­i­tants in the dis­trict when a large num­ber of armed insur­gents opened fire on them. Troops returned fire, killing the insur­gents. After ques­tion­ing the detainees, troops real­ized they had stum­bled upon a Tal­iban oper­a­tional meet­ing, offi­cials said. 

The oper­a­tion result­ed in the seizure of an auto­mat­ic machine gun, a grenade, mul­ti­ple ammu­ni­tion chest racks and pass­ports from sev­er­al countries. 

Also in Afghanistan yes­ter­day, secu­ri­ty forces end­ed a near­ly three-week-long oper­a­tion in south­ern Afghanistan that result­ed in the seizure of more than 6 tons of hashish. The drugs have an esti­mat­ed street val­ue of $5 mil­lion and were found in three sep­a­rate stock­piles in Kan­da­har province’s Zharay and Pan­jwai dis­tricts. Troops also seized 350 pounds of home­made explo­sives, 36 pres­sure plates, nine explo­sive devices, sev­er­al rifles and assort­ed bomb-mak­ing materials. 

In oper­a­tions May 7: 

— Forces killed an armed insur­gent dur­ing a search mis­sion in Bagh­lan province’s Bar­fak dis­trict after he bran­dished a weapon. 

— Com­bined forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents and found weapons while search­ing for a Tal­iban weapons traf­fick­er and ter­ror­ist train­er in Bagh­lan province’s Bar­fak dis­trict. The seized weapons includ­ed a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er with mul­ti­ple rounds and boost­ers, mul­ti­ple 107 mm war­heads rigged as explo­sive devices, 82 mm war­heads, mul­ti­ple mor­tars and grenades, a machine gun, an assault rifle and assort­ed bomb-mak­ing materials. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Garm Ser dis­trict, secu­ri­ty forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents they believe are asso­ci­at­ed with a drug cache found there. The cache con­sist­ed of 600 pounds of opium. 

— In Ghazni province’s Ghazni dis­trict, troops detained three sus­pect­ed Tal­iban weapons traf­fick­ers and found 40 grenades, an explo­sive device with 18 pounds of explo­sives and two assault rifles with ammunition. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces detained two mil­i­tants with 617 pounds of dry opi­um at a vehi­cle check­point in Nim­roz province’s Khash Rod district. 

— Com­bined forces in Kun­duz province’s Khan­abad dis­trict cap­tured two sus­pect­ed insur­gents pos­si­bly con­nect­ed to a July 2010 bomb­ing of a Kun­duz City hotel. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent, while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who is respon­si­ble for attacks on secu­ri­ty forces in Jow­jan province’s Shibirghan district. 

— Forces found sev­er­al oth­er stock­piles of weapons and drugs. Oper­a­tions result­ed in the seizure of 220 pounds of assort­ed small-arms ammu­ni­tion, 200 assault rifle rounds, 132 artillery pro­jec­tiles, 57 pounds of home­made explo­sives, 20 hand grenades, 10 rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­ers, two mor­tars, two assault rifles, two Afghan police uni­forms, a pres­sure plate, a pis­tol, a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade round and a land mine. Also, troops found 550 pounds of mar­i­jua­na, 80 pounds of black tar hero­in and 30 pounds of crushed cold medicine. 

In oper­a­tions May 6: 

— Secu­ri­ty forces in Pak­ti­ka province’s Bermal dis­trict killed sev­er­al insur­gents after their patrol was attacked by a group of armed mil­i­tants. Troops used air sup­port, artillery fire and small arms to repel the attack. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces killed an armed insur­gent and cap­tured two oth­ers in a fire­fight, while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in Nan­garhar province’s Behsud district. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Gho­rak dis­trict, troops cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for numer­ous ene­my fight­ers and attacks through­out the area. 

— Com­bined forces cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while search­ing for an insur­gent weapons traf­fick­er in Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained sev­er­al insur­gents and con­fis­cat­ed weapons at a vehi­cle check­point in Log­ar province’s Pul‑e Alam dis­trict. The weapons includ­ed 20 rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, 16 assault rifles with 1,000 rounds of ammu­ni­tion, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­ers, an anti-air­craft machine gun, an auto­mat­ic machine gun, a mor­tar sys­tem bipod, cell phones, Afghan army uni­forms and U.S. Army com­bat uniforms. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and five of his asso­ciates in Baghdis province’s Qadis district. 

— Forces in Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jawai dis­trict detained three sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while search­ing for an insur­gent leader respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing weapons and mon­ey and pro­vid­ing intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion for Kan­da­har and Zab­ul province Tal­iban networks. 

— Based on infor­ma­tion from local res­i­dents in War­dak province’s Chak‑e War­dak dis­trict, secu­ri­ty forces cap­tured two sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for kid­nap­pings in the province’s Sayed Abad district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured a Haqqani net­work ter­ror­ist and two sus­pect­ed insur­gents tied to weapons traf­fick­ing in Khost province’s Sabari district. 

— Also in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, troops cap­tured a Haqqani net­work ter­ror­ist respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing bomb­ing attacks on secu­ri­ty forces. 

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

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