Combined Force Captures Taliban Facilitator

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2012 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Lashkar Gah dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Hel­mand province today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The facil­i­ta­tor dis­trib­uted weapons and explo­sives to insur­gent fight­ers and coor­di­nat­ed road­side bomb attacks against Afghan forces through­out the area, offi­cials said. 

In oth­er Afghanistan oper­a­tions today: 

— A com­bined force in the Jal­rayz dis­trict of War­dak province cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who dis­trib­uted home­made explo­sives and weapons to insur­gent fight­ers through­out the Maid­an Shahr district. 

— In the Khost dis­trict of Khost province, a com­bined force con­fis­cat­ed weapons and ammu­ni­tion and detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani leader. The leader con­structs road­side bombs and dis­trib­utes weapons to insur­gents in the Bak and Ter­ayzai districts. 

— In the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province, an Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent. The leader con­duct­ed direct-fire attacks in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict and dis­trib­uted ammu­ni­tion and bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als to insur­gent fight­ers through­out Hel­mand province. 

— Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, com­man­der of the Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force, con­demned a sui­cide car bomb attack in Helmand’s Lashkar Gah dis­trict that report­ed­ly killed four inno­cent civil­ians and injured at least 30 others. 

“On behalf of the entire ISAF coali­tion of 50 nations, I extend our deep­est con­do­lences to the fam­i­lies and loved ones of the vic­tims of today’s attack,” Allen said. 

“ISAF will con­tin­ue to work along­side our Afghan Nation­al Secu­ri­ty Force part­ners to pres­sure the insur­gency to end these acts of ter­ror, and to sup­port the devel­op­ment of an increased secu­ri­ty envi­ron­ment to pro­mote peace in Afghanistan,” he said. “This is what the Afghan peo­ple want and deserve.” 

In oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— In the Cha­har Darah dis­trict of Kun­duz province, an Afghan-led and coali­tion-sup­port­ed secu­ri­ty force detained sev­er­al sus­pects and seized a pre­pared sui­cide impro­vised explo­sive device vest and about 4.4 pounds of home­made explo­sives dur­ing a search for insur­gent sui­cide bombers. The tar­gets were sus­pect­ed of plan­ning attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces through­out the Cha­har Darah district. 

— A com­bined patrol dis­cov­ered about 440 pounds of mar­i­jua­na seeds in the Pan­jwa’i dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. 

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