Afghanistan — Raid Nets Taliban Leader in Kandahar Province

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader dur­ing a raid yes­ter­day in the Zharay dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Kan­da­har province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
The Tal­iban leader was respon­si­ble for procur­ing weapons, set­ting up attacks and recruit­ing new fight­ers, and he main­tained close con­nec­tions with Pak­istan-based Tal­iban lead­ers and their key asso­ciates, offi­cials said.

In oth­er oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— In an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion, a part­nered Afghan and coali­tion force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor respon­si­ble for plan­ning and con­duct­ing road­side-bomb attacks tar­get­ing Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and coali­tion forces in Zab­ul province’s Shah Joy district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces killed and detained sev­er­al insur­gents after tak­ing small-arms fire in Kunar province’s Sar Kani dis­trict. Afghan sol­diers detained more than 10 sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing the operation. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion cap­tured a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor and two oth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor was respon­si­ble for acquir­ing weapons for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. 

— In an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion in Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor asso­ci­at­ed with bomb attacks.

— A part­nered force look­ing for a Tal­iban leader in Logar’s Charkh dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The want­ed man is respon­si­ble for mul­ti­ple attacks against Afghan civil­ians and Afghan and coali­tion forces in the province’s Charkh and Bara­ki Barak dis­tricts and works under a senior Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for the kid­nap­ping and mur­der of two coali­tion per­son­nel last sum­mer, offi­cials said. 

— A coali­tion airstrike killed sev­er­al insur­gents in Kunar province’s Marawarah dis­trict after a dis­mount­ed patrol report­ed a group of insur­gents get­ting into posi­tion to attack coali­tion forces. 

— In Bamyan province, an Afghan civil­ian turned in 10 high-explo­sive rock­ets, sev­en rock­et-pro­pelled grenade charges, eight grenades and four 82 mm projectiles. 

— A coali­tion patrol in Ghazni province’s Ghazni dis­trict found a chem­i­cal and weapons cache that includ­ed hun­dreds of pounds of explo­sive chem­i­cals, 15 mines, three grenades and assort­ed ammunition. 

In April 2 operations: 

— Afghan and Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force troops killed sev­er­al insur­gents, cap­tured two oth­ers and dis­cov­ered a weapons cache in Uruz­gan province’s Deh Rawud dis­trict. After com­ing under small-arms fire by numer­ous insur­gents, the com­bined patrol returned fire and called for air sup­port, and sev­er­al insur­gents were killed in an airstrike. The com­bined force found and destroyed a shot­gun, three assault rifles, nine full assault-rifle mag­a­zines, a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er, five RPG rounds, 17 RPG motors, a 155 mm artillery shell, two grenades, an anti-tank mine and two chest racks at the scene. 

— A part­nered force con­duct­ing a clear­ing oper­a­tion killed an insur­gent and found a weapons cache in Zab­ul province’s Shah Joy dis­trict after tak­ing small-arms fire dur­ing a search. The secu­ri­ty force found a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­er, four RPG rounds with boost­ers, two assault rifles, a radio, a hand grenade, a home­made bomb, two chest racks with assault-rifle mag­a­zines, var­i­ous bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and per­son­al mil­i­tary equipment. 

— In Kunar’s Sar Kani dis­trict, an ISAF air weapons team sup­port­ing ground forces killed numer­ous armed insurgents. 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion killed a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in Zab­ul province’s Shah Joy dis­trict after tak­ing small-arms fire. After the engage­ment, the secu­ri­ty force found the armed insur­gent dead, along with an Afghan civil­ian. The force was unaware of the Afghan civilian’s pres­ence until they cleared the build­ing, offi­cials said. The secu­ri­ty force found a rock­et-pro­pelled grenade with four rounds, four RPG Boost­ers, two assault rifles, a frag­men­ta­tion grenade, two chest racks with assault-rifle mag­a­zines, a home­made bomb, mul­ti­ple det­o­na­tors, bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and a hand-held radio. “We deeply regret the acci­den­tal killing of a civil­ian dur­ing this oper­a­tion,” said Army Col. Patrick Hynes, ISAF Com­bined Joint Oper­a­tions Cen­ter direc­tor. “We use every means at our dis­pos­al to con­duct oper­a­tions in a way that reduces the pos­si­bil­i­ty of civil­ian casu­al­ties, and we’ll make amends for this unfor­tu­nate event.” 

— An Afghan and coali­tion force look­ing for two local Tal­iban lead­ers detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Bagh­lan province’s Baghlan‑e Jadid district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained numer­ous oth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gents in Kun­duz province’s Imam Sahib district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces killed a Tal­iban insur­gent and detained two oth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in Hel­mand province’s Kaja­ki dis­trict. The force tar­get­ed a com­pound in the dis­trict based on numer­ous intel­li­gence reports. While mov­ing into posi­tion, the force was returned fire on three armed insur­gents who were attempt­ing to flee, killing one. 

— A com­bined force look­ing for a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents in an intel­li­gence-dri­ven operation. 

— In Pak­tiya province’s Zur­mat dis­trict, a part­nered force detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed Haqqani insur­gents dur­ing an intel­li­gence-dri­ven raid. 

— Also in Pak­tiya province, anoth­er part­nered force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor in the Gardez dis­trict. The want­ed man is respon­si­ble for plan­ning attacks against coali­tion forces and trans­ports bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als and fight­ers from Pak­istan, offi­cials said. 

— Two ISAF air weapons teams killed numer­ous insur­gents in Kunar province’s Marawarah district. 

— An ISAF air weapons team sup­port­ing ground forces killed two armed insur­gents in Helmand’s Mar­ja district. 

— Also in Hel­mand province, an ISAF patrol was fired on by sev­er­al insur­gents in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict. Coali­tion forces returned fire, killing one insur­gent and forc­ing the oth­ers to flee. 

In April 1 operations: 

— A com­bined Afghan and ISAF patrol killed two insur­gents and detained sev­er­al oth­ers while seek­ing a senior Tal­iban leader in Helmand’s Musa Qualah dis­trict. One insur­gent was killed when he raised an assault rifle, and the oth­er was killed when he tried to throw a grenade. 

— An part­nered patrol found an assault rifle, 1,000 7.62 mm rounds, 18 82 mm mor­tar rounds, four grenades, three rock­et-pro­pelled grenade rounds, an RPG launch­er, six RPG boost­ers, a 60 mm mor­tar round and six chest racks in Kandahar’s Zharay district. 

— In Nan­garhar province, a com­bined patrol oper­at­ing in the Sher­azad dis­trict found 2,500 pounds of marijuana. 

— In Pak­ti­ka, Par­wan and Ghazni provinces, ISAF patrols found 11 assault rifles, 150 7.62 mm rounds, two chest racks, sev­en mor­tar rounds, two artillery shells, 13 grenades, 12 anti-per­son­nel mines, two RPG rounds, two pres­sure plates, a bag of ball bear­ings, elec­tri­cal com­po­nents suit­able for bomb-mak­ing, det­o­na­tion cord, dyna­mite and home­made explosives. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion detained two men while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in Jawz­jan province’s Qosh Tepa district. 

— Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured a Tal­iban leader in Kandahar’s Pan­jway dis­trict dur­ing an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion. The secu­ri­ty force also found and destroyed 100 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate –- a banned fer­til­iz­er used in mak­ing bombs — and 100 pounds of marijuana. 

— Also in Kan­da­har, Afghan and coali­tion forces cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor in Kan­da­har City. 

— In an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion in Khost’s Sabari dis­trict, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a facil­i­ta­tor and an insur­gent from the Hezb‑E Isla­mi Gul­bud­din ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion, along with anoth­er sus­pect­ed insurgent. 

— Also in Khost province, Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces act­ing on intel­li­gence tips detained three sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor in the Sabari district. 

— In Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict, Afghan and coali­tion forces detained four sus­pect­ed insur­gents in an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban safe haven. — Afghan and coali­tion forces detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent while search­ing for a Tal­iban bomb-attack facil­i­ta­tor in Zabul’s Qalat district. 

— Afghan and ISAF forces in Kapisa province found a pis­tol, an assault rifle, 580 7.62 mm rounds, three full assault-rifle mag­a­zines, a box of 12.7 mm rounds, 80 82 mm mor­tar rounds, an anti-per­son­nel mine, home­made explo­sives, a chest rack, an Afghan army uni­form and var­i­ous bomb-mak­ing com­po­nents in the Mahmud‑e Raqi district. 

— In Hel­mand province’s San­gin dis­trict, an ISAF patrol tracked sev­er­al armed insur­gents and called for air sup­port. An air weapons team killed one insur­gent and forced the oth­ers to flee. 

— In Hel­mand and Kan­da­har provinces, Afghan and ISAF patrols found five anti-per­son­nel mines, 175 pounds of home­made explo­sives, three pres­sure plates, 23 bat­tery packs, four radios, 30 cell phones, a chest rack and var­i­ous elec­tri­cal com­po­nents for home­made bombs. Afghan forces also detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents relat­ed to one of the caches. 

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

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