Afghanistan — Coalition, Afghan Forces Capture Militants, Find Weapons

KABUL, April 13, 2010 — Afghan and inter­na­tion­al forces cap­tured numer­ous mil­i­tants and seized ene­my weapons stock­piles in recent Afghanistan oper­a­tions, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
— An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed mil­i­tants this morn­ing while pur­su­ing a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor in the Terezai dis­trict of Khost province. Haqqani com­man­ders have sought to estab­lish strong­holds in the province, dis­rupt­ing the local gov­ern­ment and facil­i­tat­ing the move­ment of fight­ers, explo­sives and weapons into the coun­try, offi­cials said. 

— In the Lashkar Gah dis­trict of Hel­mand province this morn­ing, an Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force patrol found a sui­cide vest, and an explo­sive ord­nance dis­pos­al team destroyed it. 

— Also last night, an Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force in Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict detained two sus­pect­ed mil­i­tants for fur­ther questioning. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Daman dis­trict yes­ter­day, a com­bined patrol found more than 1,000 anti-air­craft rounds, nine 105 mm artillery rounds, two 120 mm artillery rounds, 20 mor­tar rounds, six anti-per­son­nel mines, sev­er­al grenades, rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, 100 cans of 30 mm rounds, 10 Afghan army uni­forms and four Afghan police uniforms. 

— An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force in Helmand’s Nahr Surkh dis­trict locat­ed a want­ed man who was believed to be a Tal­iban sub­com­man­der who facil­i­tat­ed bomb­ing attacks. He was shot and killed after threat­en­ing the secu­ri­ty force. 

— In Helmand’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict, a com­bined patrol found a recoil­less rifle, an assault rifle, a sniper rifle and hun­dreds of rounds of small-arms ammunition. 

— An Afghan-inter­na­tion­al secu­ri­ty force in Kun­duz province killed two mil­i­tants and dis­cov­ered 60 pounds of drugs yes­ter­day. The com­bined force, while pur­su­ing a Tal­iban com­man­der in the Archi dis­trict, stopped a sus­pect vehi­cle. The two occu­pants came out of the vehi­cle, and the secu­ri­ty force shot and killed them after assess­ing their actions as hos­tile. A search of the vehi­cle revealed 60 pounds of opi­um gum. 

No Afghan civil­ians were harmed dur­ing these oper­a­tions, offi­cials said. 

(From an Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand news release.) 

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