Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill, Detain Insurgents

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2011 — Afghan and coali­tion killed numer­ous insur­gents and detained sev­er­al oth­ers in recent oper­a­tions through­out Afghanistan, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
In oper­a­tions yes­ter­day:
— Coali­tion forces killed two armed insur­gents and wound­ed two oth­ers with a pre­ci­sion airstrike in Farah province’s Pusht‑e Rod dis­trict. An inno­cent bystander also was killed by the blast. Secu­ri­ty forces saw numer­ous insur­gents set­ting up a fight­ing posi­tion with machine guns. Intel­li­gence reports not­ed that a Tal­iban leader was among the group. Troops request­ed the airstrike, destroy­ing the weapons and fight­ing posi­tion.

— In Hel­mand province’s Musa Qalah dis­trict, secu­ri­ty forces killed an insur­gent dur­ing a patrol. Insur­gents attacked the patrol, but were thwart­ed soon after when troops request­ed air support. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained sev­er­al ene­my fight­ers in Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jawai dis­trict. Secu­ri­ty forces were patrolling the area when they came under attack. Troops returned fire before detain­ing the insurgents. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces detained a Tal­iban leader and three sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Kan­da­har province’s Mai­wand dis­trict. The Tal­iban leader is respon­si­ble for facil­i­tat­ing Tal­iban intel­li­gence oper­a­tions and drug trafficking. 

— In Nan­garhar province’s Jalal­abad City, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents, includ­ing a Tal­iban leader. The Tal­iban leader is respon­si­ble for plan­ning attacks on local gov­ern­ment offi­cials and secu­ri­ty forces. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces found sev­er­al stock­piles of bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and chem­i­cals in south­ern Afghanistan. The oper­a­tions result­ed in pres­sure plates, remote-con­trolled devices, bat­ter­ies, det­o­na­tion wire, ammo­ni­um nitrate and oth­er materials. 

— Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force offi­cials con­firmed the iden­ti­ty of a Tal­iban dis­trict shad­ow gov­er­nor who was detained Jan. 24 in Takhar province. He is respon­si­ble for acts of ter­ror through­out the province and for lead­ing insurgents. 

— ISAF offi­cials con­firmed the iden­ti­ty of a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader who was cap­tured Jan. 19 in Khost province. He is respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and oth­er weapons to ene­my fight­ers through­out the province. 

In oth­er news from Afghanistan, a sui­cide bomber on a motor­cy­cle killed Kandahar’s deputy provin­cial gov­er­nor and wound­ed four inno­cent bystanders in Kan­da­har City on Jan. 29. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, ISAF com­man­der, released a state­ment offer­ing con­do­lences to the fam­i­ly of the slain provin­cial leader and prais­ing Deputy Gov. Abdul Latif Ashana’s life and work: 

“Our con­do­lences go out to the fam­i­ly and friends of Engi­neer Abdul Latif Ashana, deputy gov­er­nor of Kan­da­har, and a man who was work­ing self­less­ly for the peo­ple of Kan­da­har province,” Petraeus wrote. “Deputy Gov­er­nor Ashana faced dan­ger through­out his pub­lic ser­vice career from the insur­gency, but he nev­er let that inter­fere with his ser­vice to the Kan­da­haris. In 2009, he sur­vived a dead­ly sui­cide attack by the Tal­iban that killed a num­ber of high-rank­ing gov­ern­ment offi­cials and mem­bers of the Kan­da­har Provin­cial Coun­cil. Despite this attack and con­stant threats to his life, the deputy gov­er­nor con­tin­ued to serve the people. 

“I strong­ly con­demn the bar­bar­ic attack of the Tal­iban and pledge to work with our Afghan part­ners to bring those respon­si­ble to jus­tice,” the gen­er­al con­tin­ued. “Indeed, the death of Engi­neer Abdul Latif Ashana and his coura­geous ser­vice in the face of dan­ger will inspire us to redou­ble our efforts to help our Afghan part­ners seek­ing peace and a bet­ter future for all Afghans.” 

In oper­a­tions Jan. 29: 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces killed five insur­gents in Kunar province. Two insur­gents were killed in Tsowkey dis­trict after secu­ri­ty forces saw sev­er­al armed insur­gents set­ting up a fight­ing posi­tion. Two more were killed in Marawarah dis­trict after attack­ing an ISAF patrol. Ground troops returned fire and lat­er request­ed air sup­port before killing the two fight­ers. Anoth­er insur­gent was killed after he and sev­er­al armed men attacked a coali­tion foot patrol in the province’s Nari district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a Tal­iban leader and two oth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Nim­roz province’s Khash Rod dis­trict. The Tal­iban leader is respon­si­ble for direct­ing bomb­ing attacks on local secu­ri­ty forces. 

In oper­a­tions Jan. 28: 

— In Hel­mand province, secu­ri­ty forces killed sev­er­al armed insur­gents with a pre­ci­sion airstrike. Troops spot­ted the insur­gents maneu­ver­ing to a fight­ing posi­tion in the province’s Musa Qalah dis­trict before engag­ing the group. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces killed an insur­gent with small-arms fire in Hel­mand province’s San­gin dis­trict after they saw him plant­i­ng a road­side bomb. 

— Secu­ri­ty forces found sev­er­al weapons stock­piles through­out south­ern Afghanistan. The oper­a­tions result­ed in more than 350 rounds of small-arms ammu­ni­tion, 68 rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, 57 RPG boost­ers, 37 assort­ed rock­ets, 10 mines and bomb-mak­ing materials. 

— ISAF offi­cials con­firmed the iden­ti­ty of a Haqqani net­work leader who was cap­tured Jan. 27 in Khost province. He is respon­si­ble for traf­fick­ing weapons and sup­plies to ene­my fight­ers in Kab­ul city for use against local secu­ri­ty forces. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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