Combined Force Captures Taliban Leader

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2011 — A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader dur­ing a secu­ri­ty oper­a­tion in the Mai­wand dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Kan­da­har province yes­ter­day, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The leader coor­di­nat­ed ambush and road­side bomb attacks against Afghan forces and enforced Sharia law through­out the area. 

The secu­ri­ty force detained one addi­tion­al sus­pect­ed insur­gent dur­ing the operation. 

In oth­er Afghanistan oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— A com­bined force seized an impro­vised explo­sive device and detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects in the Mar­jah dis­trict of Hel­mand province. 

— In the Garm Ser dis­trict of Hel­mand province, a com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and detained two sus­pects. The facil­i­ta­tor coor­di­nat­ed the move­ment of road­side-bomb mate­ri­als, weapons and sui­cide bombers for use in attacks against Afghan forces in the district. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader and detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects in the Musahi dis­trict of Kab­ul province. The leader coor­di­nat­ed and con­duct­ed attacks against Afghan offi­cials. The secu­ri­ty force also seized more than 100 pounds of narcotics. 

— A coali­tion force detained numer­ous sus­pects in the Sayyid­abad dis­trict of War­dak province. The detainees were sought for ques­tion­ing about their roles in recent IED attacks against com­bined forces. 

— A com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Haqqani net­work leader in the Pul‑e ‘Alam dis­trict of Log­ar province. The detainee is linked to attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— In the Deh Yak dis­trict of Ghazni province, a com­bined force killed one insur­gent and detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader. The leader coor­di­nates road­side bomb­ings in north­east­ern Ghazni province and also is respon­si­ble for attacks against con­voys in the Andar and Deh Yak dis­tricts. Mul­ti­ple weapons were con­fis­cat­ed dur­ing the operation. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani net­work leader and detained numer­ous sus­pects in the Chamkani dis­trict of Pak­tia province. The leader dis­trib­uted rock­ets, firearms and road­side-bomb com­po­nents, and coor­di­nat­ed insur­gent attacks through­out the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province. 

— In the Sabari dis­trict, a com­bined patrol seized a weapons cache con­tain­ing three rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, two 82 mm mor­tars, 20 rock­et boost­ers, 2 RPG tail fins, one rifle, one RPG launch­er, one IED and 750 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. 

— A com­bined patrol seized a weapons cache con­tain­ing rock­et-pro­pelled grenades, rock­ets, 75 kg of explo­sives and bomb-mak­ing mate­r­i­al in the Shah Joy dis­trict of Zab­ul province. 

In Nov. 12 Afghanistan operations: 

— Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, com­man­der of the Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force, joined Afghan Pres­i­dent Hamid Karzai in con­demn­ing the Nov. 12 road­side bomb inci­dent in the Ali Angar dis­trict of east­ern Lagh­man province that report­ed­ly killed nine Afghan civil­ians, includ­ing a woman and child. 

“This is anoth­er sad exam­ple of the insurgency’s absolute lack of respect for civil­ian life,” Allen said. “Over the past week, we have seen many more inno­cent Afghan cit­i­zens dying at the hands of the Taliban. 

“Appar­ent­ly, the Tal­iban do not care about the Afghan peo­ple,” Allen con­tin­ued. “Their lead­ers have lost con­trol over their fight­ers, which is par­tic­u­lar­ly trou­bling at this sacred time of year. If spe­cif­ic guid­ance giv­en dur­ing the holy peri­od of Eid does­n’t stop insur­gents from killing civil­ians, then what will? 

“Once again, I call on Mul­lah Omar to rein in these despi­ca­ble acts and to pub­licly con­demn these sense­less attacks upon the Afghan pop­u­la­tion,” Allen concluded. 

— A com­bined force killed one insur­gent and detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader in the Nadir Shah Kot dis­trict of Khost province. The leader coor­di­nates and par­tic­i­pates in attacks against com­bined forces and pro­vides infor­ma­tion to Haqqani net­work lead­ers. The secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed an assault rifle. 

— A coali­tion force seized a weapons cache con­tain­ing sev­er­al radios and oth­er com­mu­ni­ca­tions gear, one 107 mm rock­et, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenade rounds, and IED-mak­ing mate­ri­als in the Shah Joy dis­trict of Zab­ul province. 

— In the Mai­wand dis­trict of Kan­da­har province, a com­bined force detained a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor, sev­er­al oth­er indi­vid­u­als, and seized two pis­tols. The facil­i­ta­tor oper­at­ed in the Mai­wand dis­trict and is linked to the kid­nap­ping of sev­er­al Afghan sol­diers. The facil­i­ta­tor also pro­vid­ed funds, weapons and equip­ment to his network. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader is a mem­ber of the Hel­mand Tal­iban Mil­i­tary Com­mis­sion and is respon­si­ble for plan­ning and coor­di­nat­ing attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader in the Zarghun Shahr dis­trict of Pak­ti­ka province. The leader directs an insur­gent cell in the dis­trict and is respon­si­ble for numer­ous IED and rock­et attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. The secu­ri­ty force con­fis­cat­ed one rifle dur­ing the operation. 

— A com­bined force detained a Haqqani net­work leader in the Bara­ki Barak dis­trict of Log­ar province. The leader was direct­ly involved in the place­ment of sev­er­al road­side bombs in the province’s Pul‑e ‘Alam district. 

In Nov. 11 Afghanistan operations: 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader par­tic­i­pates in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces and coor­di­nates IED attacks in the district’s upper Gereshk Valley. 

— A com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban IED facil­i­ta­tor in the Arghandab dis­trict of Kan­da­har province. The facil­i­ta­tor was direct­ly involved in a recent attack against a coali­tion base in the area. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects in the Rodat dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. 

— A com­bined force seized drug-pro­cess­ing mate­ri­als in the Mohmand Darah dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. The force also found 682 pounds of ammo­ni­um in a near­by stor­age unit. 

— A com­bined force killed one insur­gent and detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Ghazni dis­trict of Ghazni province. The leader par­tic­i­pates in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces in the district. 

— In the Zarghun Shahr dis­trict of Pak­tiya province, a com­bined force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Haqqani net­work leader. The leader is respon­si­ble for numer­ous attacks against com­bined forces in the region. 

— A com­bined force con­duct­ed a search for a Tal­iban and Hezb‑e Isla­mi Khalis leader oper­at­ing in the Khugyani dis­trict of Nan­garhar province. The leader directs Tal­iban and HIK mil­i­tants, and facil­i­tates the pur­chase and move­ment of small arms and IEDs across the province. 

In Nov. 10 Afghanistan operations: 

— In the Kah­mard dis­trict of Bamyan province, a weapons cache con­tain­ing two 107 mm rock­ets, two 82 mm mor­tar rounds and 2,600 rounds of machine gun ammu­ni­tion was turned over to com­bined forces as part of a local dis­ar­ma­ment program. 

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