Combined Force Captures al-Qaida Operative

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 2, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured an al-Qai­da facil­i­ta­tor and two asso­ciates in the Nahr‑e Shahi dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Balkh province yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
The Pak­istan-based attack plan­ner is a close asso­ciate of senior al-Qai­da insur­gents, offi­cials said, and is believed to have been with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001.

In oth­er oper­a­tions in Afghanistan yesterday: 

— Based on intel­li­gence tips, a com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents in the city of Mazar‑e Sharif in Balkh province while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who coor­di­nates and con­ducts bomb­ing attacks against Afghan gov­ern­ment offi­cials and secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion cap­tured a Tal­iban leader who directs about 45 ene­my fight­ers and one of his asso­ciates in Kan­da­har province’s Pan­jwai district. 

— An Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force patrol found and destroyed 99 pounds of mar­i­jua­na in Kandahar’s Pan­jwai district. 

— In Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor and two of his asso­ciates. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for trans­port of home­made bombs tar­get­ing Afghan and coali­tion forces. The secu­ri­ty force found and con­fis­cat­ed an assault rifle with ammu­ni­tion and a chest rack. 

— In Log­ar province’s Bara­ki Barak dis­trict, an Afghan-led com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for plan­ning attacks tar­get­ing Afghan forces and mov­ing weapons and ammu­ni­tion to oth­er insurgents. 

— An Afghan-led com­bined force in Ghazni province’s Gelan dis­trict detained numer­ous sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who plans bomb­ing attacks tar­get­ing Afghan and coali­tion forces along High­way 1 in Zab­ul province’s Shah Joy district. 

— A com­bined force in Nuris­tan province’s Do Ab dis­trict found and con­fis­cat­ed six rock­et-pro­pelled grenade rounds, 200 7.62 mm machine-gun rounds, an 82 mm mor­tar base plate and an assault rifle magazine. 

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

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