Numerous Insurgents Killed in Afghanistan Airstrike

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2011 — A pre­ci­sion airstrike killed numer­ous insur­gents today dur­ing a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion oper­a­tion in the Tarnek wa Jal­dak dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Zab­ul province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

Fol­low­ing the airstrike, the secu­ri­ty force recov­ered sev­er­al assault rifles, some rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, two machine guns with 400 rounds of ammu­ni­tion, sev­er­al grenades, ammu­ni­tion pouch­es, and one 82mm recoil­less rifle. 

Two sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained dur­ing the oper­a­tion, which tar­get­ed a group of Tal­iban fight­ers. No civil­ians were harmed dur­ing the operation. 

In oth­er Afghanistan oper­a­tions today: 

— Sev­er­al sus­pects were detained by a com­bined force dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Musa Qal’ah dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader coor­di­nates ship­ments of explo­sives and weapons in sup­port of insur­gent operations. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor and two sus­pects dur­ing a search in the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province. The facil­i­ta­tor planned and coor­di­nat­ed attacks against Afghan forces, and dis­trib­uted road­side bombs and oth­er weapons through­out the Sabari district. 

— In a sep­a­rate oper­a­tion also in the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province, a com­bined force cap­tured anoth­er Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor and one sus­pect. The facil­i­ta­tor dis­trib­uted weapons, sup­plies and equip­ment to oth­er insur­gents, and planned attacks against Afghan forces. 

In Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— Com­bined forces detained two sus­pects and seized two weapons caches dur­ing sep­a­rate oper­a­tions through­out east­ern Afghanistan. Two sus­pects were detained in the Pul‑e Alam dis­trict of Log­ar province after they’d fired at coali­tion forces. In the Dehyak dis­trict of Ghazni province, com­bined forces found a cache con­tain­ing two 60mm mor­tar rounds, one 12-gauge shot­gun and 90 rounds of assort­ed ammu­ni­tion. In the Qalan­der dis­trict of Khow­st province, forces found a cache con­tain­ing eight 82mm recoil­less rifle rounds, three land­mines, 250 oth­er rifle rounds and nine rock­et-pro­pelled grenades. And in the Sayyid­abad dis­trict of War­dak province, forces found a video cam­era that was observ­ing local road traffic. 

— A com­bined force detained an insur­gent leader in the Khoshi dis­trict of Log­ar province. The detainee is a known insur­gent com­man­der and facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— In the Qalan­dar dis­trict of Khost province, a com­bined patrol dis­cov­ered a weapons cache con­tain­ing eight 82mm recoil­less rifle rounds, nine rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, three land­mines, and 250 12.7mm rounds. 

In Oct. 19 Afghanistan operations: 

— A com­bined patrol dis­cov­ered a dam­aged coali­tion vehi­cle and a stor­age con­tain­er in a civil­ian com­pound in the Kan­da­har dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The patrol also found a weapons cache con­tain­ing three assault rifles, one shot­gun, one hand grenade, 15 assault rifle mag­a­zines, and 450 7.62mm rounds. 

— A com­bined patrol detained an insur­gent leader in the Lashkar Gah dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader is respon­si­ble for plan­ning attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

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