Coalition Airstrike Kills Taliban Bomb Expert

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 23, 2012 — A coali­tion airstrike killed a Tal­iban expert bomb mak­er and wound­ed anoth­er insur­gent in the Baghlan‑e Jadid dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Bagh­lan province today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The airstrike tar­get­ed the two insur­gents as they were plant­i­ng two road­side bombs. One bomb was a pres­sure plate device, and the oth­er was remote-controlled. 

Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces removed and destroyed both explo­sives and detained the wound­ed insur­gent. The expert bomb mak­er built explo­sive devices for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion troops and trained oth­er insur­gents in con­struct­ing road­side bombs, offi­cials said. 

In oth­er news, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and anoth­er sus­pect in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province today. The facil­i­ta­tor pro­vid­ed weapons and bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als to insur­gents through­out the dis­trict and west­ern Kan­da­har province. He also par­tic­i­pat­ed in ille­gal drug trafficking. 

Also today, an Afghan-led force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor, detained sev­er­al oth­er sus­pects and con­fis­cat­ed a shot­gun in the Bati Kot dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. The facil­i­ta­tor pro­vid­ed finan­cial and logis­ti­cal sup­port to insurgents. 

Source:
From an Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Release