ISAF Chief Apologizes for Civilian Casualty Incident

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2011 — The Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan com­man­der met today with fam­i­ly mem­bers of Afghan civil­ians killed and injured dur­ing a July 26 inci­dent in the Nejrab dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Kapisa province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen expressed his sin­cere con­do­lences and apol­o­gized to Afghan fam­i­ly mem­bers for their loss dur­ing the meet­ing at ISAF head­quar­ters in Kab­ul, Afghanistan. 

Allen said any civil­ian casu­al­ties are a tragedy, and assured the fam­i­lies he would con­tin­ue to make every effort to reduce civil­ian casu­al­ties in the fight against the insurgency. 

Also today, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion patrol found and destroyed a weapons cache in the Mar­ja dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The cache con­sist­ed of two recoil­less rifles, five 107 mm rock­ets, eight rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, 2,500 7.62 mm rounds and rock­et fuses. 

In Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed a Tal­iban leader and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent in the Pul‑e Khum­ri dis­trict of Bagh­lan province. The Tal­iban leader direct­ed insur­gents who con­duct­ed road­side-bomb attacks against Afghan civil­ians and Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— In the Lashkar Gah dis­trict of Hel­mand province, a com­bined force detained numer­ous insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader linked to insur­gent oper­a­tions in the district. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Pan­jwai dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The leader is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing attacks and man­ag­ing supplies. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in the Tarnek wa Jal­dak dis­trict of Zab­ul province. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for the move­ment of road­side bombs and bomb-mak­ing materials. 

— A coali­tion patrol found 948 pounds of opi­um dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Garm Ser dis­trict of Hel­mand province. 

— In the Man­duzai dis­trict of Khost province, a com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a senior Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader. The Haqqani leader is direct­ly involved with plan­ning and con­duct­ing oper­a­tions against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. He also is respon­si­ble for road­side-bomb attacks and sui­cide-bomb facil­i­ta­tion in Khost province. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a search for a Haqqani net­work leader in the Zur­mat dis­trict of Pak­tia province. The leader directs 40 to 50 Haqqani fight­ers and mul­ti­ple sub­chiefs who have con­duct­ed attacks, kid­nap­pings and bomb­ings tar­get­ing Afghan secu­ri­ty forces in the district. 

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