Officials in Afghanistan Detail Recent Operations

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2010 — Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand offi­cials have pro­vid­ed details of numer­ous recent oper­a­tions in Afghanistan. In Farah province: 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents yes­ter­day in an oper­a­tion launched after an insur­gent bomb attack that injured five civil­ians, three of them chil­dren, the day before. About 45 pounds of opi­um prod­ucts and a num­ber of bomb com­po­nents were found dur­ing the operation. 

In Hel­mand province: 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained more than 10 sus­pect­ed insur­gents yes­ter­day while pur­su­ing the Tal­iban shad­ow gov­er­nor of the province’s Musa Qalah dis­trict. The shad­ow gov­er­nor facil­i­tates and leads attacks and han­dles fund­ing for Tal­iban oper­a­tions in his area. The secu­ri­ty force dis­cov­ered mul­ti­ple weapons, drugs, Tal­iban para­pher­na­lia and Pak­istani mon­ey at the scene. As the secu­ri­ty force was leav­ing the tar­get area, coali­tion air­craft received small-arms fire from the ground. The air­craft returned fire, ensur­ing the air­craft and occu­pants left the area safe­ly. The ground force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the operation. 

— Mul­ti­ple intel­li­gence sources and tips from local res­i­dents led to a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion oper­a­tion that result­ed in the deten­tion of sev­er­al insur­gents in the cen­tral part of the province yes­ter­day. The tar­get of the oper­a­tion was a Tal­iban leader who was direct­ly involved with plan­ning, coor­di­nat­ing and con­duct­ing attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces and is known to pre­pare bombs for insur­gent groups in the sur­round­ing area. He also pro­vides sui­cide bombers and vests for oth­er local Tal­iban com­man­ders. Four insur­gents were killed dur­ing the oper­a­tion when they attempt­ed to engage Afghan and coali­tion forces. The com­bined force pro­tect­ed 12 women and 33 chil­dren and arrest­ed sev­er­al sus­pects found hid­ing among them. 

— Afghan com­man­dos, assist­ed by mem­bers of two Marine Corps spe­cial oper­a­tions teams, found and destroyed a large drug and weapons cache in the San­gin dis­trict Sept. 2. Coali­tion forces were attempt­ing to inter­act with the local pop­u­lace when they received spo­radic small-arms and machine-gun fire near the vil­lage of Banuzai. While seek­ing cov­er, troops dis­cov­ered an oper­a­tional drug pro­cess­ing lab. Upon sup­pres­sion of the insur­gent force and a detailed search of the facil­i­ty, Afghan forces recov­ered 90 pounds of opi­um, two assault rifles with 200 rounds of ammu­ni­tion, two bolt-action rifles, a machine gun with 200 rounds and five grenades. 

— Sev­er­al Afghan civil­ians fought back against insur­gents who attacked wor­shipers in a mosque near Mar­ja on Aug. 31, killing two and wound­ing anoth­er. Fol­low­ing the attack, Mar­ja elders ral­lied cit­i­zens to pur­sue the insur­gents. Dur­ing the pur­suit, the elders informed Afghan Nation­al Civ­il Order Police forces of the inci­dent, and the com­man­der quick­ly launched his forces. The cit­i­zen and ANCOP force locat­ed the insur­gents and engaged them with small-arms fire as a small ISAF unit estab­lished perime­ter secu­ri­ty. The ANCOP then swept the area and detained four of the insur­gents sus­pect­ed of con­duct­ing the mosque attack. 

In Kan­da­har province: 

— Sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained yes­ter­day dur­ing an Afghan-led oper­a­tion in pur­suit of the Tal­iban dis­trict com­man­der for Dand. The com­man­der, who prof­its from weapons traf­fick­ing and coor­di­nates attacks, pre­sides over an ille­gal shad­ow court that exer­cis­es cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Act­ing on intel­li­gence tips, Afghan and coali­tion forces went to a com­pound in the Pan­jwai dis­trict to search for the com­man­der and detained the sus­pect­ed insur­gents after inter­view­ing the res­i­dents. Coali­tion air­craft received heavy fire from mul­ti­ple insur­gent loca­tions on the ground through­out the oper­a­tion. Coali­tion air­craft respond­ed with direct fire and by con­duct­ing pre­ci­sion air strikes to elim­i­nate the ene­my threat. 

— Afghan Nation­al Civ­il Order Police part­nered with sol­diers from Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Task Force South to find three road­side bombs Sept. 1 in the Pan­jwai district. 

— ISAF offi­cials con­firmed the Sept. 3 cap­ture of a Tal­iban weapons facilitator. 

— Afghan com­man­dos with the 3rd Com­man­do Kan­dak, advised and assist­ed by coali­tion forces, found and destroyed mul­ti­ple bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als in a remote region of the Shah Wali Kot dis­trict, Kan­da­har province Sept. 2. 

— ISAF offi­cials con­firmed the Sept. 2 cap­ture by a com­bined Afghan-coali­tion force of Nawah-ye Barakzai, an act­ing Tal­iban dis­trict com­man­der who took the posi­tion after Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured sev­er­al mem­bers of his net­work since May. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. — An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban com­man­der Sept. 3. He coor­di­nat­ed and par­tic­i­pat­ed in attacks in Kan­da­har City and the Arghandab dis­trict. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

In Khost province:

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents yes­ter­day in the Sabari dis­trict in their con­tin­ued pur­suit of a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for road­side-bomb com­po­nents and weapons used in indi­rect-fire attacks. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

— ISAF offi­cials con­firmed the cap­ture dur­ing a Sept. 2 com­bined oper­a­tion of a Haqqani sub­com­man­der respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing bomb­ing attacks against Afghan civil­ians and Afghan and coali­tion forces, The secu­ri­ty force also detained three of his asso­ciates. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Haqqani sub­com­man­der and two asso­ciates in the Serkay in Bak dis­trict Sept. 4. The sub­com­man­der leads a cell con­duct­ing bomb­ing and indi­rect-fire attacks against Afghan civil­ians, gov­ern­ment offices and Afghan and coali­tion forces. The assault force dis­cov­ered and destroyed sev­er­al firearms, mul­ti­ple grenades, and a cache of home­made explo­sives and ammu­ni­tion at the scene. They did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in the Sabari dis­trict Sept. 3 in their pur­suit of a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor for bomb com­po­nents and weapons. The secu­ri­ty force also dis­cov­ered mul­ti­ple grenades and weapons at the scene. They did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

In Nan­ga­har province:

— Based on intel­li­gence tips, an Afghan and coali­tion force killed a Tal­iban mil­i­tary com­man­der for the Khugyani dis­trict and anoth­er insur­gent dur­ing an oper­a­tion over the night of Sept. 5. The com­man­der, Hazrat Muham­mad, was killed dur­ing the oper­a­tion. As the com­bined force approached the tar­get­ed com­pound, two armed indi­vid­u­als moved to a near­by tree line. The assault force attempt­ed to inter­dict them, but the two insur­gents engaged the force, which returned fire, killing Hazrat Muham­mad and anoth­er insur­gent. Dur­ing an inspec­tion of the area, the assault force found an auto­mat­ic weapon, mul­ti­ple mag­a­zines of ammu­ni­tion and a pis­tol with the insur­gents. The secu­ri­ty force detained three addi­tion­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents for fur­ther ques­tion­ing and pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

In Pak­tia province:

— In an intel­li­gence-based Sept. 4 oper­a­tion in the Lewan in Gardez dis­trict, an Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban com­man­der linked to device bomb­ing attack that killed four U.S. sol­diers on High­way 1 last week and a facil­i­ta­tor who also was involved in bomb­ing attacks. Two of their asso­ciates also were detained. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor for a bomb­ing cell oper­at­ing in Gardez dis­trict in an intel­li­gence-based Sept. 3 oper­a­tion. The secu­ri­ty force found a pis­tol and a grenade at the scene. They did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

In Pak­ti­ka province:

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force in the Sha­rana dis­trict act­ing on intel­li­gence reports detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents Sept. 5, includ­ing a Tal­iban bomb­ing oper­a­tive who also facil­i­tates and con­ducts machine-gun and small-arms attacks against coali­tion con­voys. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force in the Yahya Khel dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while in pur­suit of a Tal­iban sub­com­man­der who con­ducts attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and Afghan and coali­tion forces. He is also involved in facil­i­tat­ing bombs and weapons. An insur­gent armed with an assault rifle and grenades was killed after he threat­ened the force as it approached the first tar­get­ed com­pound. Mul­ti­ple insur­gents who ran from the com­pound also were killed when they threat­ened the force. A sus­pect­ed insur­gent was detained at a sec­ond com­pound. The assault force pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

In Takhar province: 

— ISAF offi­cials con­firmed that Attal­lah, the Tal­iban com­man­der for the Dar­quad dis­trict, was killed dur­ing a Sept. 3 Afghan and coali­tion force oper­a­tion. Attal­lah main­tained con­tact with senior Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan lead­ers in Pak­istan and in Afghanistan’s Takhar, Kun­duz and Bagh­lan provinces. He had stepped in as the deputy shad­ow gov­er­nor for Takhar province after the for­mer deputy, Muham­mad Amin, was killed in a pre­ci­sion air strike the day before. The oper­a­tion also result­ed in the cap­ture of the Tal­iban mil­i­tary com­mis­sion­er for six Takhar districts. 

In Uruz­gan province: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained 13 Tal­iban insur­gents yes­ter­day. After arrival at a sus­pect­ed Tal­iban insur­gent com­pound, the force was met with small-arms fire by a sin­gle insur­gent. Afghan and coali­tion forces returned fire, killing the attack­er. Upon enter­ing the com­pound, they detained nine sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The com­bined force also tracked four sus­pect­ed insur­gents leav­ing the tar­get­ed com­pound just pri­or to their arrival and fol­lowed them to a near­by com­pound, where they were detained. 

In War­dak province

— In a Sept. 5 oper­a­tion, an Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed Tal­iban oper­a­tives. Although the tar­get of the oper­a­tion, a known explo­sives expert and bomb mak­er, was not at the site, the force did detain sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing one of the target’s top lieu­tenants. When the com­bined force arrived at the objec­tive site, they saw peo­ple run­ning from the com­pound and fol­lowed them into a near­by orchard, where suc­ces­sive fire fights ensued over an extend­ed peri­od of time. The com­bined force’s lead­ers chose not to call in air sup­port, as civil­ians were in the area. As the fire fights sub­sided, the com­bined force moved back to the orig­i­nal tar­get­ed com­pound, made sev­er­al search­es and detained three sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The force also found 50 pounds of home­made explo­sives, two rock­et fus­es and 1,000 meters of cop­per com­mand wire for home­made bombs. 

In Zab­ul province: 

— ISAF offi­cials today con­firmed the cap­ture of a Tal­iban sub­com­man­der who facil­i­tat­ed and coor­di­nat­ed road­side-bomb attacks on High­way 1. He was cap­tured dur­ing a Sept. 2 com­bined oper­a­tion. The assault force did not fire their weapons, and pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents Sept. 5 while in pur­suit of an insur­gent cell leader oper­at­ing in the Qalat dis­trict. The tar­get­ed indi­vid­ual facil­i­tates the move­ment of weapons and sup­plies and directs road­side-bomb attacks on High­way 1, a major route used by civil­ians. Afghan and coali­tion forces did not fire their weapons, and they pro­tect­ed women and chil­dren through­out the search. 

In oth­er news from Afghanistan, a team com­posed of rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the Afghan inte­ri­or and defense min­istries and ISAF offi­cials deter­mined that ISAF strikes inad­ver­tent­ly caused civil­ian casu­al­ties ISAF strikes dur­ing a Sept. 1 oper­a­tion in Hel­mand province’s Musa Qalah district. 

“It is regret­table that insur­gents con­tin­ue to place civil­ians in harm’s way,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Tim­o­thy M. Zadalis, ISAF Joint Com­mand direc­tor of plans and projects and the team lead. “We regret the loss of life and injuries to our civil­ian part­ners. Our first objec­tive is to pro­tect the peo­ple of Afghanistan, and in this case we failed.” Dur­ing a dis­mount­ed patrol, part­nered Afghan and coali­tion forces came under heavy small-arms and machine-gun fire. The patrol was pinned down and unable to with­draw. The insur­gent fir­ing posi­tion was pos­i­tive­ly iden­ti­fied, and addi­tion­al fire sup­port was requested. 

The insur­gents were sup­pressed, and fol­low­ing the engage­ment, over­head air­craft observed two or three wound­ed indi­vid­u­als being removed by insur­gents to a near­by com­pound. The assess­ment team con­firmed an imme­di­ate site assess­ment by the part­nered force that revealed civil­ians were in the com­pound at the time of the insur­gent attack. Mean­while, insur­gents con­tin­ue to inflict civil­ian casu­al­ties and tar­get gov­ern­ment officials. 

The gov­er­nor of Bagh­lan province’s Nahrin dis­trict and his dri­ver report­ed­ly were killed by unknown gun­men yesterday. 

In Kunar province’s Darah-ye Pech dis­trict yes­ter­day, four Afghan gov­ern­ment work­ers report­ed­ly were kid­napped by about 15 sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

Also yes­ter­day, three Afghan chil­dren were killed and five more were wound­ed by insur­gents in an attack on a coali­tion com­bat out­post in the Yahya Khel dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province. 

Coali­tion forces took the eight wound­ed chil­dren by air to coali­tion med­ical facil­i­ties for treat­ment. Three of the chil­dren sub­se­quent­ly died. 

On Sept. 5, two chil­dren were brought to For­ward Oper­at­ing Base Farah for treat­ment after a road­side bomb det­o­nat­ed in a bazaar in Farah province’s Bala Boluk dis­trict. Sev­er­al oth­er peo­ple were wound­ed in the explo­sion, which orig­i­nat­ed from home­made explo­sives placed under an ice stand. The chil­dren, ages 8 and 12, were treat­ed at the base, and the oth­er wound­ed peo­ple were treat­ed at a local hospital. 

Two Afghan civil­ians were killed and anoth­er was wound­ed in a vehi­cle-borne bomb attack on an Afghan police sta­tion in the Khash Rod dis­trict of Nim­roz province Sept. 5. The wound­ed civil­ian was trans­port­ed to a near­by ISAF med­ical facil­i­ty for treatment. 

In the Darah-ye Pech dis­trict of Kunar province Sept. 5, about 13 Afghan civil­ians were wound­ed after insur­gents attacked a coali­tion force con­voy. Coali­tion force medics treat­ed the wound­ed Afghans at a near­by ISAF med­ical facil­i­ty, and they are now receiv­ing fol­low-on care at a local Afghan hospital. 

On Sept. 4, sev­er­al peo­ple were killed when a vehi­cle-borne bomb det­o­nat­ed in Kun­duz province. 

Also on Sept. 4, two Afghan civil­ians were wound­ed by a road­side bomb det­o­na­tion in the Sha­ran dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province. The bomb explod­ed in front of an ISAF provin­cial recon­struc­tion team con­voy. A medic assessed the civil­ians’ injuries, and they were tak­en to a local hos­pi­tal in a pri­vate vehicle. 

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

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