Insurgents Use Vehicle Bomb to Attack Kandahar Airfield

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2012 — Insur­gents det­o­nat­ed a vehi­cle-borne bomb out­side an entry con­trol point at Kan­da­har Air­field in Afghanistan’s Kan­da­har province today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The attack result­ed in the deaths and injuries of a num­ber of civil­ians, offi­cials said. Cur­rent­ly, offi­cials added, there are no con­firmed reports of injuries to Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force troops or Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

ISAF and Afghan secu­ri­ty forces are gath­er­ing more facts and will release more infor­ma­tion as appro­pri­ate, offi­cials said, not­ing that ISAF’s imme­di­ate con­cerns are for those killed or injured and their families. 

In oth­er Afghanistan news today: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and seized drugs in the Nad‑e Ali dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader built bombs and direct­ed insur­gents in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. The secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed about 15 pounds of opi­um and detained anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing the operation. 

— In the Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict of Bagh­lan province, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained sev­er­al sus­pects. The leader oper­at­ed a bomb-mak­ing cell and con­duct­ed attacks against Afghan forces. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained sev­er­al sus­pects in Kandahar’s Pan­jwai dis­trict. The insur­gent leader oper­at­ed a bomb-mak­ing cell and stored explo­sives for use in attacks through­out the region. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured an insur­gent leader in the Mehtar Lam dis­trict of Lagham province. The leader sup­port­ed Tal­iban fight­ers, plant­ed road­side bombs and coor­di­nat­ed attacks against coali­tion forces. 

In Afghanistan news yesterday: 

— Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, ISAF com­man­der, con­demned a sui­cide attack in the Kaja­ki Sofla bazaar that killed and injured dozens of Afghan civil­ians, Afghan secu­ri­ty forces and ISAF mem­bers. The gen­er­al offered con­do­lences to vic­tims and their fam­i­lies, and said such attacks fur­ther iso­late the Tal­iban from the peace nego­ti­a­tion process. They also indi­cate that Tal­iban leader Mohammed Omar has no influ­ence over insur­gents, he added. “Mul­lah Omar has lost all con­trol over Tal­iban insur­gents,” Allen said in a writ­ten state­ment. “Oth­er­wise, he would imme­di­ate­ly denounce these attacks and order his ‘forces’ to stop attack­ing inno­cent Afghan civilians.” 

— In the Ghazni dis­trict of Ghazni province, an Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained a sus­pect. The leader planned and facil­i­tat­ed bomb attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined force in the Kab­ul dis­trict of Kab­ul province found and destroyed 50 107 mm rock­ets, 50 rock­et boost­ers, 25 rock­et fus­es and sev­er­al anti-air­craft rounds. 

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