Afghan, Coalition Troops Nab Insurgent Leaders

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force yes­ter­day cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader, a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor and sev­er­al of their asso­ciates dur­ing an overnight clear­ing oper­a­tion in the Bermal dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Pak­ti­ka province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
The Afghan-led oper­a­tion tar­get­ed sev­er­al Haqqani lead­ers in Pir Koti val­ley. The focus of the oper­a­tion was to elim­i­nate poten­tial Haqqani safe house and dis­rupt the train­ing and move­ment of fight­ers.

In oth­er oper­a­tions in Afghanistan yesterday: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al indi­vid­u­als with sus­pect­ed ties to the Tal­iban dur­ing an overnight secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Sar‑e Pul dis­trict of Sar‑e Pul province. The Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force was search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who plans and exe­cutes attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and two of his asso­ciates dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Pan­jwa’i dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for pro­duc­tion and move­ment of explo­sive devices and com­po­nents into the Zharay and Pan­jwa’i dis­tricts. Addi­tion­al­ly, he was known to have direct involve­ment in the nar­cotics trade through­out the province. 

— In Hel­mand province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in the San­gin dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for mov­ing nar­cotics, weapons and mon­ey with­in the north­ern Hel­mand Tal­iban network. 

— Dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Tar­nak wa Jal­dak dis­trict of Zab­ul province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained one indi­vid­ual with sus­pect­ed ties to Tal­iban activity. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force killed more than five insur­gents and detained two sus­pects dur­ing an overnight secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader in the Sayyid­abad dis­trict of War­dak province. Dur­ing a search, the force found a RPG launch­er with sev­er­al war­heads, a high pow­ered machine gun, mul­ti­ple AK-47 rifles and sev­er­al chest racks. The secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pects for questioning. 

— Also in Sayyid­abad, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader. The tar­get­ed leader is the Tal­iban-appoint­ed provin­cial mil­i­tary chief for War­dak province. He coor­di­nates kid­nap­pings of Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces in the district. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader in the Khwa­jah ‘Omari dis­trict of Ghazni province. The tar­get­ed leader is a guer­ril­la war­fare tac­ti­cian who com­mands many fight­ers for attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor and sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an overnight secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for emplac­ing and coor­di­nat­ing the use of explo­sives tar­get­ing the Afghan Nation­al Army. The secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed two rifles dur­ing a search. 

— Also in Sabari, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion. The leader con­ducts home­made bomb attacks, includ­ing a recent attack in Sabari. 

— In the Zharay dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force dis­cov­ered a drug cache dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion. The cache con­sist­ed of 22 pounds of opi­um and 331 pounds of hashish. The drugs were safe­ly destroyed by secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A coali­tion force dis­cov­ered a weapons cache in the San­gin dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The cache con­sist­ed of two 107 mm grenades, one mor­tar round, two ban­doliers, one mor­tar, one full AK-47 rifle mag­a­zine, ammo­ni­um nitrate and sev­er­al com­po­nents for impro­vised explo­sive devices. 

In June 4 operations: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force patrol engaged sev­er­al insur­gents June 4 dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Kaja­ki dis­trict of Hel­mand province. Sev­er­al insur­gents were killed when they engaged the patrol with small-arms fire. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force patrol dis­cov­ered a weapons cache dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a sui­cide attack plan­ner in Kab­ul. The oper­a­tion secured a sui­cide vest, three grenades, three det­o­na­tors and 154 pounds of home­made explo­sives. The explo­sives were safe­ly destroyed on site. One man was detained by Afghan author­i­ties for questioning. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion patrol dis­cov­ered an ene­my explo­sives cache dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Gelan dis­trict of Ghazni province. The oper­a­tion secured 44 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate, 14 82 mm mor­tar rounds, TNT, 30 12 mm rounds and one pis­tol. The explo­sives were safe­ly destroyed on site. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion oper­a­tion tar­get­ed a sui­cide impro­vised explo­sive device cell in Kab­ul. One man was detained. A sui­cide vest, 40 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate and four AK-47 rifles were con­fis­cat­ed. The explo­sives and weapons were safe­ly destroyed on site and the detainee was tak­en by Afghan author­i­ties for questioning. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained sev­er­al of his asso­ciates dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Kun­duz dis­trict of Kun­duz province. The tar­get­ed leader was part of a sig­nif­i­cant attack net­work and com­mand­ed 20–25 fight­ers in Wali Mohammed Ogrtepa vil­lage in Kun­duz dis­trict. He and the Kun­duz attack net­work are direct­ly involved in road­side bomb and sui­cide attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and Afghan Nation­al Secu­ri­ty Forces. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Cha­har Bolak dis­trict of Balkh province. The Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force was in the dis­trict search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for plan­ning attacks in the district. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al indi­vid­u­als with sus­pect­ed ties to Tal­iban activ­i­ty dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Tarnek wa Jal­dak dis­trict of Zab­ul province. 

— In Hel­mand province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Nad ‘Ali dis­trict. The leader is respon­si­ble for approx­i­mate­ly 15 to 20 fight­ers who con­duct direct fire and ambush attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. He is also involved with the kid­nap­ping and intim­i­da­tion of local nation­als in the district. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing a night­time secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader in Kan­da­har City, Kan­da­har province. The leader coor­di­nates and con­ducts attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. He also coor­di­nates with a promi­nent facil­i­ta­tor who sup­plies his net­work with weapons and fighters. 

— In the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province, a coali­tion patrol dis­cov­ered a weapons cache dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion. The cache con­sist­ed of 50 12.7 mm rounds, two artillery shells rigged with wires, 40 machine-gun rounds, two pres­sure plates, 44 pounds of home­made explo­sives, one 152 mm artillery shell and mine rigged togeth­er, and one 107 mm rocket. 

— Also in Hel­mand, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force patrol oper­at­ing in the Garm Ser dis­trict dis­cov­ered a weapons cache. The cache con­tained five hand-held two-way radios, five bat­tery packs, two remote con­trols, ball bear­ings, four fus­es and five 110-pound bags of fer­til­iz­er. One indi­vid­ual was detained. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained sev­er­al insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Bara­ki Barak dis­trict of Log­ar province. The Afghan-led force con­duct­ed the oper­a­tion to dis­rupt Tal­iban activ­i­ty along a key facil­i­ta­tion route for insur­gent orga­ni­za­tions car­ry­ing out attacks in Kabul. 

— In Pak­ti­ka province, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained two indi­vid­u­als with links to the Haqqani net­work dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in Orgun district.

— In the Sabari the dis­trict of Khost province, an Afghan-led force detained two indi­vid­u­als while search­ing for a Haqqani leader. The leader is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing and con­duct­ing attacks against the Afghan army. 

— A coali­tion force patrol detained an indi­vid­ual in pro­ces­sion of mul­ti­ple weapons and explo­sive com­po­nents dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Sherzad dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. Mate­r­i­al that was con­fis­cat­ed includ­ed sev­en mines, 15 hand-grenades, 15 grenades fus­es, five explo­sive det­o­na­tors, three blast­ing caps, three 82 mm recoil­less rifle rounds and 1,000 feet of det­o­na­tion cord. 

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

Face­book and/or on Twit­ter