Afghan, ISAF Troops Kill 15 Insurgents in Helmand-101026

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2010 — Afghan and Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force troops today killed 15 insur­gents and detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing a joint oper­a­tion that tar­get­ed a senior Tal­iban leader in Afghanistan’s north­ern Hel­mand province.

The tar­get­ed senior Tal­iban leader is a for­mer Tal­iban deputy shad­ow gov­er­nor of Hel­mand and is a mem­ber of the group’s mil­i­tary com­mis­sion which over­sees and guides all Tal­iban mil­i­tary actions there. 

Mul­ti­ple intel­li­gence reports and res­i­dents’ tips led the com­bined secu­ri­ty force to the Tal­iban leader’s loca­tion in the Baghran dis­trict. Upon arrival, the force imme­di­ate­ly took fire from insur­gents. The force returned fire, killing four insurgents. 

After secur­ing the com­pounds, the Afghan force con­duct­ed a series of call-outs, allow­ing occu­pants to exit peace­ful­ly. A total of six men, six women and 12 chil­dren exit­ed peace­ful­ly and were protected. 

An impro­vised explo­sive device fac­to­ry was dis­cov­ered at the com­pound with live IEDs pro­tect­ing it. A large weapons cache that includ­ed rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and explo­sives also was found. The secu­ri­ty force with­drew a safe dis­tance from the com­pounds and destroyed them to ren­der the area safe. 

As the com­bined force pre­pared to leave, 11 heav­i­ly-armed insur­gents in three vehi­cles and six motor­cy­cles approached the force at high speed. Deter­min­ing them a threat, close-air sup­port assets fired on the approach­ing insur­gents, killing all 11. 

In oth­er oper­a­tions today: 

— The ISAF con­firmed that an Afghan secu­ri­ty force, backed by coali­tion forces, cap­tured a Tal­iban leader in charge of an IED cell dur­ing an oper­a­tion in Khost province Oct. 23. Intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion led the secu­ri­ty force to an Islam­ic school in the Nadir Shah Kot dis­trict to search for the sus­pect. An Afghan-only force used a loud­speak­er to call for occu­pants to exit the build­ings peace­ful­ly, then cleared and secured the build­ing. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing at the scene, the force detained the tar­get­ed man and sev­er­al of his associates. 

In overnight operations: 

— A com­bined cap­tured the senior leader of the main Tal­iban assas­si­na­tion cell in Kan­da­har City dur­ing an oper­a­tion there. The group is believed respon­si­ble for sev­er­al assas­si­na­tions of Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials, includ­ing the deputy may­or of Kan­da­har City and a Nation­al Defense Ser­vice offi­cer killed ear­li­er this month. Based on intel­li­gence tips, the force tar­get­ed a com­pound in Kan­da­har City. Afghan forces used a loud­speak­er to call for occu­pants to exit the build­ings peace­ful­ly, then the secu­ri­ty force cleared and secured the area. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing at the scene, the force iden­ti­fied and detained the man and sev­er­al of his associates. 

— A com­bined force tar­get­ing a Haqqani net­work leader who coor­di­nates and con­ducts attacks using rock­ets, recoil­less rifles and machine guns, dis­cov­ered and destroyed a com­pound rigged with IEDs in Khost province. Intel­li­gence tips led the force to a remote com­pound in the Sabari dis­trict. As the force moved to clear the com­pound, they trig­gered a trip-wire IED, caus­ing an explo­sion. After two addi­tion­al explo­sions, an explo­sive ordi­nance dis­pos­al team deter­mined the com­pound was boo­by-trapped with IEDs. The force ques­tioned civil­ians in the area who con­firmed the com­pound was aban­doned. Coali­tion forces then con­duct­ed a pre­ci­sion strike, destroy­ing the com­pound. No Afghan or coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces were seri­ous­ly injured dur­ing the operation. 

In neigh­bor­ing Pak­ti­ka province, a sep­a­rate secu­ri­ty force tar­get­ed a Haqqani Net­work mem­ber who coor­di­nates vehi­cle-borne IEDs and Haqqani fight­ers report­ed­ly from Pak­istan. The force detained one sus­pec­tat a remote com­pound in the Ziruk dis­trict while search­ing for the tar­get­ed man. 

— A com­bined force killed Mustafa, a Tal­iban leader who com­mand­ed a cell of fight­ers who placed IEDs along pub­lic roads in Pak­ti­ka province. Intel­li­gence reports led the force to a com­pound in the Omnah dis­trict to search for the man. As the force approached, Mustafa, armed with an AK-47 rifle, emerged from the com­pound and threat­ened the secu­ri­ty force. The force react­ed by shoot­ing and killing him. After the area was secure, Afghan forces used a loud­speak­er to call for all occu­pants to exit the build­ings peace­ful­ly, then the force cleared and secured the com­pound. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing, the force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents. Addi­tion­al­ly, armed insur­gents engaged the secu­ri­ty force from a ridge­line near the tar­get­ed com­pound. Coali­tion forces returned fire, killing two addi­tion­al insurgents. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban mem­ber known to lead IED attacks along the heav­i­ly-trav­elled High­way 1 dur­ing an oper­a­tion in Zab­ul province. Based on intel­li­gence tips, the force tar­get­ed a series of tents in the remote Shah Joy dis­trict where they found IED mate­r­i­al includ­ing a 155 mm round. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing, the secu­ri­ty force iden­ti­fied and detained the sus­pect and one of his asso­ciates. The secu­ri­ty force destroyed the IED mate­r­i­al before leav­ing the scene. 

In yesterday’s operations: 

— Com­bined forces seized more than 3,000 pounds of opi­um dur­ing rou­tine traf­fic stops in south­ern Hel­mand and Kan­da­har provinces. Mul­ti­ple intel­li­gence sources and res­i­dents’ tips led the force to a nar­cotics infil­tra­tion route where they con­duct­ed vehi­cle inter­dic­tions to stop the ille­gal flow of nar­cotics into Pak­istan. One armed man was killed when he attempt­ed to fire on the secu­ri­ty force as he tried to retreat from the scene. Sev­er­al oth­er men were detained for ques­tion­ing by Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. The opi­um and weapons were destroyed at the scene. 

— Com­bined forces arrest­ed a Tal­iban leader known to pro­vide sup­port and assis­tance to Tal­iban fight­ers in the area, dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Ab Band dis­trict of Ghanzi province. Mul­ti­ple intel­li­gence sources and res­i­dents’ tips led the com­bined secu­ri­ty force to the Tal­iban leader’s loca­tion. After secur­ing the sus­pect­ed insur­gent loca­tion, Afghan forces called for occu­pants to exit peace­ful­ly. While search­ing the loca­tion, the forces dis­cov­ered numer­ous auto­mat­ic weapons, RPGs and com­mu­ni­ca­tion devices. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing, the forces detained the sus­pect­ed Tal­iban leader and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent with­out inci­dent. The force destroyed the weapons, RPGs and grenades pri­or to depart­ing the scene.

— Com­bined forces tar­get­ing a Tal­iban senior leader in Badghis province, killed two insur­gents when they threat­ened the force. The Tal­iban leader is respon­si­ble for attacks against mil­i­tary forces, as well as kid­nap­ping oper­a­tions. He also report­ed­ly planned and direct­ed a recent ambush that killed two Span­ish sol­diers. Intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion led the force to a remote com­pound in the Morghab dis­trict where Afghan forces used a loud­speak­er to call for all occu­pants to exit the build­ings peace­ful­ly, then the joint secu­ri­ty force began clear­ing the com­pound. Dur­ing the clear­ance, the force killed two armed men when they threat­ened the force. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing, the secu­ri­ty force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents and secured mul­ti­ple auto­mat­ic weapons. 

— A com­bined force repelled an attack and killed sev­er­al insur­gents in the San­gin dis­trict of Hel­mand. The com­bined force came under attack from a group of insur­gents in a tree line dur­ing a dis­mount­ed patrol in the dis­trict. After iden­ti­fy­ing the insur­gents’ fir­ing posi­tion, the force returned fire. When the insur­gent fire con­tin­ued, a coali­tion air­craft con­duct­ed an airstrike and two artillery rock­ets were fired at the tree line, result­ing in sev­er­al insur­gents killed. Ini­tial report­ing indi­cates there were no civil­ian casu­al­ties. — In east­ern Afghanistan, an ISAF unit found an IED cache in the Saro­bi dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province. The cache includ­ed 25 60 mm mor­tars with wiring and a cone-shaped con­tain­er con­tain­ing about 30 pounds of home­made explosives. 

— The ISAF con­firmed the Oct. 20 cap­ture of a Tal­iban mem­ber respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing vehi­cle-borne IED attacks dur­ing an overnight oper­a­tion in Kandahar. 

— The ISAF con­demned the Oct. 23 insur­gent attack against a Unit­ed Nations oper­a­tions cen­ter in the Her­at dis­trict of Her­at province. Accord­ing to the U.N., the attack did not dis­rupt U.N. activ­i­ties and no U.N. per­son­nel were injured. Two Afghan secu­ri­ty offi­cers were wound­ed in the attack. The U.N. has pledged to con­tin­ue oper­at­ing with Afghan author­i­ties in west­ern Afghanistan to aid the Afghans in need. Afghan secu­ri­ty forces respond­ed to the attack, and ISAF pro­vid­ed air sup­port. In ear­li­er operations: 

— In the Kan­da­har dis­trict of Kan­da­har, Afghan nation­al police and coali­tion forces on Oct. 23 dis­cov­ered a truck con­tain­ing 15 bags of what was believed to be home-made explo­sives. An explo­sive ord­nance dis­pos­al unit was called in and con­firmed the mate­r­i­al was an ele­ment used in mak­ing explo­sives. The dri­ver of the truck, the truck and the mate­r­i­al were tak­en to a police sta­tion. Also, an Afghan police and coali­tion force found 300 to 400, 110-pound bags of ammo­ni­um nitrate while on patrol. After they were deter­mined safe for trans­port by an EOD unit, the mate­ri­als were tak­en to a coali­tion facil­i­ty and destroyed. 

— ISAF troops con­duct­ed a pre­ci­sion airstrike to destroy a home-made explo­sives stor­age site in the Reg‑e Khan Neshin dis­trict of Hel­mand on Oct. 23. Mul­ti­ple intel­li­gence sources and tips from Afghan cil­ians led ISAF to a home-made explo­sives stor­age site. After sev­er­al hours of sur­veil­lance, ISAF con­firmed the site when they observed two insur­gents in the process of stor­ing hun­dreds of kilo­grams of home-made explo­sives. After con­firm­ing there were no civil­ians present, ISAF destroyed the facil­i­ty with a pre­ci­sion airstrike. The two insur­gents were killed in the explo­sion. Large sec­ondary explo­sions were seen, indi­cat­ing a large amount of explo­sives were at the site. 

— ISAF troops repelled an insur­gent attack while con­duct­ing a dis­mount­ed patrol in Helmand’s San­gin dis­trict Oct. 23. Insur­gents used small-arms fire in the attack. Coali­tion forces iden­ti­fied the insur­gent fir­ing posi­tion and returned fire. Dur­ing the ensu­ing fire­fight, the ISAF troops called in air sup­port to sup­press the ene­my fire. The result­ing close-air sup­port and ground force fire­fight killed sev­er­al insur­gents. Ini­tial reports indi­cate that all rounds were observed strik­ing their intend­ed tar­get, caus­ing no dam­age to local build­ings and no civil­ian casualties. 

— Two Afghan civil­ians were pos­si­bly killed Oct. 23 when insur­gents attacked a coali­tion patrol in the Maid­an Shahr dis­trict of War­dak province. A coali­tion unit was on a patrol when they were attacked by insur­gents with an IED. The coali­tion forces stopped the patrol to inves­ti­gate the explo­sion and clear the area of any more IEDs. Once the patrol stopped, they began receiv­ing small-arms fire from an unknown num­ber of insur­gents. The patrol returned fire. Dur­ing the attack, three Afghan civil­ians on a motor­cy­cle entered the engage­ment area. Two of them fell off the vehi­cle and were tak­en away by local vil­lagers. Their con­di­tion could not be ver­i­fied by coali­tion forces before they were tak­en away. Coali­tion and Afghan secu­ri­ty forces are inves­ti­gat­ing the incident. 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader involved in direct-fire, indi­rect-fire and IED attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces, dur­ing an Oct. 23 oper­a­tion in Pak­ti­ka province. Based on intel­li­gence reports, the force tar­get­ed a com­pound in the Yahya Kheyl dis­trict to search for the sus­pect. Afghan forces used a loud­speak­er to call for all occu­pants to exit the build­ings peace­ful­ly, then the force cleared and secured the area. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing, the force iden­ti­fied and detained the sus­pect and four of his associates. 

— Com­bined forces detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing sev­er­al Oct. 23 oper­a­tions aimed at cap­tur­ing Tal­iban lead­er­ship in north­ern and east­ern Afghanistan. In north­ern Badghis province, Afghan and coali­tion forces con­duct­ed an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban senior leader who leads Tal­iban meet­ings in the Ghor­ma­ch dis­trict and com­mands about 25 fight­ers in the province. The force tracked a sus­pect to a seclud­ed area where he was detained peace­ful­ly. A sep­a­rate secu­ri­ty force tar­get­ed a Tal­iban leader in Nan­garhar province, who planned and led attacks dur­ing the Sep­tem­ber elec­tions and coor­di­nates attacks against the mil­i­tary in Sherzad dis­trict. They detained two sus­pects. In Khost province, secu­ri­ty forces tar­get­ed a Tal­iban leader in charge of an IED cell in neigh­bor­ing Pak­tiya province. After ini­tial ques­tion­ing, the force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force killed sev­er­al insur­gents and detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing an Oct. 23 oper­a­tion in Pak­ti­ka province. 

— The ISAF con­duct­ed a pre­ci­sion airstrike tar­get­ing a senior Tal­iban leader in Helmand’s Baghran dis­trict Oct. 23. The senior leader com­mands and con­trols mul­ti­ple cells of insur­gents and is a senior weapons and explo­sives coor­di­na­tor in Helmand’s Now Zad dis­trict. He also is believed respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan forces and ISAF troops in the dis­trict and sur­round­ing area. Mul­ti­ple intel­li­gence sources and tips from con­cerned cit­i­zens led ISAF to a meet­ing site in the Baghran dis­trict. After observ­ing the meet­ing site for sev­er­al hours, ISAF observed the sus­pect­ed Tal­iban leader arrive with a group of armed insur­gents. After care­ful plan­ning to ensure no civil­ians were present, ISAF con­duct­ed the pre­ci­sion airstrike. The strike report­ed­ly killed sev­er­al insurgents. 

— A coali­tion patrol dis­cov­ered a large weapons cache in the Khugyani dis­trict of Nan­garhar province Oct. 22. The cache con­sist­ed of 50 recoil­less rifle rounds, 10 82 mm mor­tars, fus­es and numer­ous machine gun rounds. An explo­sive ord­nance dis­pos­al team dis­posed of the rifle rounds at the site. The mor­tar rounds were tak­en to a near­by coali­tion facility. 

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

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