Afghan Forces Respond to Coordinated Attacks

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2012 — Afghan forces respond­ed to a series of attacks in the Afghan cap­i­tal of Kab­ul and in a few out­ly­ing provinces yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials reported. 

The Tal­iban called the attacks, which were con­cen­trat­ed in three clus­ters around the city, the start of their “spring offensive. 

Con­sist­ing pri­mar­i­ly of rock­et-pro­pelled grenade and small-arms fire, the attacks were large­ly inef­fec­tive, Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force offi­cials said. Afghan cri­sis response units, along with Afghan police and army forces, deployed to repel the attacks. 

The Afghan forces took light casu­al­ties while killing or cap­tur­ing many of the sui­cide attack­ers in a mat­ter of hours, offi­cials said. 

Afghanistan’s nation­al secu­ri­ty direc­torate announced that two would-be sui­cide bombers were cap­tured alive before they were able to reach their intend­ed targets. 

ISAF quick-reac­tion forces were pre­pared to respond, if required, but were not need­ed, offi­cials said. 

In oper­a­tions today around Afghanistan: 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor in the Khost dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Khost province. The facil­i­ta­tor coor­di­nat­ed the deliv­ery of weapons, vehi­cles and equip­ment to insur­gents in the region. The secu­ri­ty force also detained two oth­er insur­gents and seized two assault rifles. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor, detained two addi­tion­al insur­gents and seized a 9 mm pis­tol, an assault rifle and a road­side-bomb pres­sure plate in the Jagori dis­trict of Ghazni province. The facil­i­ta­tor coor­di­nat­ed the move­ment of weapons, mor­tars and explosives. 

In oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— A com­bined force killed two insur­gents, detained sev­er­al oth­erss and seized an assault rifle dur­ing a search for a senior Tal­iban leader in the Pash­tun Kot dis­trict of Faryab province. The leader is the head Tal­iban com­mis­sion­er in the province, respon­si­ble for sev­er­al kid­nap­pings, sui­cide attacks, road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined force killed an insur­gent leader along with sev­er­al oth­er insur­gents and seized rock­et-pro­pelled grenade rounds, blast­ing caps and a mor­tar tube with mor­tar rounds dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Shah Wali Kot dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The insur­gent leader killed in the oper­a­tion had direct­ed attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces and pro­vid­ed insur­gents with weapons, ammu­ni­tion and equipment. 

— An Afghan-led force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and detained sev­er­al sus­pects in the Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict of Bagh­lan province. The leader direct­ed road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Nad‑e Ali dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader over­sees Tal­iban oper­a­tions in the province’s Mar­jah dis­trict, includ­ing road­side-bomb and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. He also attempts to impose Tal­iban law on Afghan civilians. 

— A com­bined airstrike killed sev­er­al insur­gents and destroyed a machine gun in the Nerkh dis­trict of War­dak province. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects and seized an artillery round and a mor­tar round dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in Ghazni’s Khugyani dis­trict. The leader super­vis­es road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. He also tar­gets local Afghan offi­cials and attempts to impose Tal­iban law on Afghan civilians. 

— An Afghan-led force detained sev­er­al sus­pects and seized a mil­i­tary uni­form, a grenade and 100 rounds of small-arms ammu­ni­tion dur­ing a search for a Haqqani leader in Khost’s Sabari dis­trict. The leader coor­di­nates road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. He also sup­plies weapons and ammu­ni­tion to insurgents. 

In April 14 operations: 

— A com­bined force killed an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist group leader who direct­ed attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces, along with anoth­er insur­gent, in the Rus­taq dis­trict of Takhar province. The secu­ri­ty force also seized weapons and grenades. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and two sus­pects in Helmand’s Nahr‑e Saraj. The leader direct­ed road­side-bomb and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces in the Nahr‑e Saraj and San­gin dis­tricts. He is also sus­pect­ed in the assas­si­na­tion plot of an Afghan secu­ri­ty forces commander. 

— A com­bined airstrike killed a Tal­iban leader and four oth­er insur­gents in the Muham­mad Aghah dis­trict of Log­ar province. The leader planned and con­duct­ed road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. The secu­ri­ty force also detained sev­er­al oth­er insur­gents and seized two assault rifles. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor and detained two oth­er insur­gents in Khost’s Bak dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor coor­di­nat­ed sui­cide attacks and road­side bomb­ings against Afghan and coali­tion forces in the area. He also is sus­pect­ed of trans­port­ing sui­cide bombers for attacks across the country. 

— In the Sayyid­abad dis­trict of War­dak province, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader, detained anoth­er insur­gent and seized an assault rifle and a grenade. The leader super­vised the con­struc­tion and place­ment of road­side bombs used to attack Afghan and coali­tion forces. He also facil­i­tat­ed the move­ment of Tal­iban fight­ers from Pak­istan into Afghanistan. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Zur­mat dis­trict of Pak­tia province. The leader coor­di­nates road­side bomb­ings and oth­er attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. He also attempts to impose Tal­iban law on Afghan civil­ians in the area. 

In April 13 operations: 

— A com­bined force found and destroyed about 2,400 pounds of hashish in the Zharay dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. 

— A com­bined patrol found and destroyed 2,500 5.56 mm rounds, 50 .50-cal­iber rounds, three mor­tar tubes and two mor­tar base plates in the Shinkai dis­trict of Zab­ul province. 

— A coali­tion force found and destroyed sev­en makeshift bombs in the Zharay dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. 

In oth­er news, ISAF Com­man­der Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen praised Afghan nation­al secu­ri­ty forces for a recent oper­a­tion in the Kamdesh dis­trict of Nuris­tan province. 

Afghan com­man­do-led oper­a­tions result­ed in more than 32 ene­my fight­ers killed, along with numer­ous equip­ment and fight­ing posi­tions destroyed. The oper­a­tion was con­duct­ed to deny insur­gent safe havens and pre­vent insur­gents from mass­ing against Afghan forces in the area, offi­cials said. 

“This was yet anoth­er exam­ple of the suc­cess­ful tran­si­tion we have been see­ing through­out the past year, as the [Afghan forces] are plan­ning, lead­ing and exe­cut­ing very pro­duc­tive com­bat oper­a­tions against the insur­gency,” Allen said. “We expect to see more of these types of suc­cess­ful [Afghan-led] oper­a­tions as we progress fur­ther into the spring and summer.” 

The com­man­do oper­a­tions led to fol­low-on mis­sions by Afghan sol­diers and police, offi­cials said. 

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