Forces Kill Insurgents in Afghanistan Airstrike

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2011 — A coali­tion airstrike killed more than 10 insur­gents in the Bermal dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Pak­ti­ka province yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
An air weapons team report­ed insur­gents armed with rock­et-pro­pelled grenades massed at two known insur­gent out­posts, request­ed per­mis­sion and launched pre­ci­sion airstrikes on both loca­tions, offi­cials said.

In oth­er oper­a­tions yes­ter­day through­out Afghanistan: 

— An Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force patrol killed sev­er­al armed insur­gents and wound­ed oth­ers after being ambushed in Hel­mand province’s San­gin district. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces in Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents linked to a drug cache. The oper­a­tions result­ed in seizure of 1,500 pounds of mar­i­jua­na and 350 pounds of mar­i­jua­na seeds. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, troops cap­tured numer­ous Hezb‑E Isla­mi Gul­bud­din ter­ror­ists while search­ing for one of the group’s facil­i­ta­tors respon­si­ble for procur­ing funds and pro­vid­ing the group with intel­li­gence information. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Tal­iban bomb expert who is con­nect­ed to sev­er­al recent attacks on secu­ri­ty forces and Afghan civil­ians, in the Pul‑e Alam dis­trict of Log­ar province. 

— Forces in Nan­garhar province’s Jalal­abad dis­trict detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tehrik‑e Tal­iban Pak­istan ter­ror­ist respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing weapons and fight­ers from Pakistan. 

— Based on tips from local civil­ians, secu­ri­ty forces in Log­ar province’s Mohammed dis­trict arrest­ed a senior Tal­iban leader who is linked to oth­er Tal­iban lead­ers through­out the province. 

— In Bagh­lan province’s Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict, troops arrest­ed two “high-val­ue” Tal­iban lead­ers, offi­cials said. One is a bomb expert respon­si­ble for attacks on secu­ri­ty forces, while the oth­er is respon­si­ble for assas­si­nat­ing the Nahrin dis­trict governor. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces in Kan­da­har province’s Kan­da­har City arrest­ed a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for plan­ning and car­ry­ing out attacks on secu­ri­ty forces after tips from local res­i­dents led troops to his location. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces found sev­er­al weapons and drug stock­piles through­out Afghanistan. The oper­a­tions result­ed in seizure of 18,810 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate –- a banned fer­til­iz­er used for explo­sives — as well as 32 mor­tars and rock­ets, 15 machine-gun rounds, six rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and assort­ed bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als. In March 26 operations: 

— Forces in Hel­mand province killed an insur­gent and dis­rupt­ed ene­my activ­i­ty with mor­tar fire after spot­ting a group of insur­gents maneu­ver­ing toward a known ene­my fight­er position. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces cap­tured two sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a weapons traf­fick­er respon­si­ble for acquir­ing and sup­ply­ing oth­er insur­gents with muni­tions and explo­sives, in Afghanistan’s Kab­ul province. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces in Bagh­lan province’s Baghlan—e Jadid dis­trict detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a senior Tal­iban leader, after local vil­lagers report­ed them to secu­ri­ty forces. 

— In Kan­da­har province, troops dis­cov­ered two weapons stock­piles and a bomb fac­to­ry dur­ing a rou­tine patrol. The oper­a­tions result­ed in troops find­ing the bomb fac­to­ry, 110 artillery rounds, four mines, an 82 mm mor­tar round rigged with explo­sives and oth­er bomb-mak­ing materials. 

— Forces oper­at­ing vehi­cle check­points in Hel­mand province’s Reg‑e Khan dis­trict arrest­ed sev­er­al drug traf­fick­ers and con­fis­cat­ed 400 pounds of opi­um and 780 pounds of black-tar heroin. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces found sev­er­al weapons and drug caches in oper­a­tions through­out Afghanistan. The oper­a­tions result­ed in seizure of 73 var­i­ous rock­ets and mor­tars, 17 rock­et-pro­pelled grenade boost­ers, 15 pro­pel­lant sticks, 12 rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, 12 hand grenades, nine assault rifles, nine land mines, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­ers, an anti-tank mine, a clay­more mine, a pis­tol and a large-cal­iber machine gun with 600 rounds of ammunition. 

In March 25 operations: 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Haqqani net­work ter­ror­ist leader linked to sev­er­al bomb­ings and oth­er attacks on secu­ri­ty forces, in Pak­ti­ka province’s Orgun district. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while search­ing for a Tal­iban bomb mak­er respon­si­ble for build­ing and plant­i­ng road­side bombs, in Kan­da­har province’s Zharay district. 

— Forces in Khost province’s Khost dis­trict cap­tured sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Haqqani net­work ter­ror­ist leader respon­si­ble for indi­rect-fire attacks on secu­ri­ty forces. 

— In Log­ar province’s Bakari Barak dis­trict, troops detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while tar­get­ing a Tal­iban weapons traf­fick­er linked to sev­er­al recent insur­gent attacks and operations. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents, while pur­su­ing a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing attacks in the Mem­la vil­lage in Nan­garhar province’s Behsud district. 

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

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