Combined Force Captures Taliban Leader in Paktika

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2011 — An Afghan-led com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban leader and more than 10 sus­pect­ed insur­gents dur­ing an intel­li­gence-dri­ven oper­a­tion yes­ter­day in the Saro­bi dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Pak­ti­ka province.
The Tal­iban leader worked for mul­ti­ple insur­gent groups, sup­port­ed them with plan­ning, and pro­vid­ed fight­ers and weapons for attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces, offi­cials said.

In oth­er oper­a­tions in Afghanistan yesterday: 

— Based on inter­views with local res­i­dents, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force in Jowz­jan province’s Darz­ab dis­trict detained a per­son with sus­pect­ed ties to the Tal­iban while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader respon­si­ble for pro­vid­ing weapons and sup­port to ene­my fight­ers in the district. 

— In Zab­ul province’s Tarnek wa Jal­dak dis­trict, a com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed Tal­iban insur­gents after ques­tion­ing local res­i­dents dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban mem­ber who builds and plants road­side bombs. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader in Hel­mand province’s Nad‑e Ali dis­trict. The leader is in charge of direct-fire and bomb-attack cells in the Kariz‑e Say­di and Badu­la Qulp areas of north­ern Marja. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict, a com­bined force detained an sus­pect­ed insur­gent and con­fis­cat­ed more than 150 pounds of hero­in while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who is involved in attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion force in Uruz­gan province’s Deh Rawud dis­trict found 32 rock­et-pro­pelled grenades. 

— In Hel­mand province’s Garm Ser dis­trict, coali­tion forces detained sev­er­al insur­gents and destroyed 2,139 pounds of dry opi­um and 705 pounds of wet opium. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work leader and sev­er­al of his asso­ciates in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict. The leader direct­ed a bomb­ing cell and was respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing mul­ti­ple road­side bomb attacks against the Afghan army. The Afghan-led secu­ri­ty force found his com­pound after track­ing him through­out the day, search­ing the area and inter­view­ing residents. 

— In Pak­ti­ka province’s Nikeh dis­trict, a com­bined force cap­tured a Haqqani facil­i­ta­tor and anoth­er sus­pect­ed insur­gent. The facil­i­ta­tor aid­ed Haqqani senior lead­er­ship with attack plan­ning and com­mand­ed 35 to 40 fighters. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents in the Tan­gi Val­ley area of Nan­garhar province’s Sherzad dis­trict while seek­ing a Tal­iban leader who orga­nizes sui­cide-bomb attacks and takes part in plan­ning and con­duct­ing attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— A com­bined force in War­dak province’s Sayyid­abad dis­trict — an area known as a Tal­iban safe haven — detained sev­er­al peo­ple dur­ing a clear­ing operation. 

— Also in Sayyid­abad, a coali­tion force patrol on a route-clear­ing oper­a­tion found a bomb-mak­ing lab and 1,800 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate – a banned fer­til­iz­er used in mak­ing bombs — and 20 gal­lons of diesel fuel. 

In June 11 operations: 

— More than five insur­gents were killed after they attempt­ed to attack a coali­tion force oper­at­ing in Badghis province’s Qadis dis­trict. The unit report­ed receiv­ing small-arms and rock­et-pro­pelled grenade fire while con­duct­ing a secu­ri­ty patrol. After gain­ing pos­i­tive iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, the unit returned fire and called for air sup­port. An air weapons team in the area dropped mul­ti­ple ord­nance rounds on sev­er­al posi­tions after pos­i­tive­ly iden­ti­fy­ing armed insurgents. 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and one of his asso­ciates in Hel­mand province’s Mar­ja dis­trict. The facil­i­ta­tor was in charge of acquir­ing equip­ment and weapons for Tal­iban lead­ers oper­at­ing in the dis­trict and coor­di­nat­ing trav­el for injured ene­my fighters. 

— A com­bined force in Hel­mand province’s Garm Ser dis­trict found 1,146 pounds of dry opium. 

— An Afghan-led com­bined force search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who coor­di­nates and par­tic­i­pates in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces in War­dak province’s Chak‑e War­dak dis­trict detained a sus­pect­ed insurgent. 

— In Lagh­man province’s Qarghahi dis­trict, a com­bined force found and seized 10 82 mm rockets. 

In June 10 operations: 

— A com­bined force act­ing on intel­li­gence reports in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict killed Sayed Rah­man, a Haqqani net­work facil­i­ta­tor. Rah­man assist­ed road­side-bomb and indi­rect-fire attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. He moved mul­ti­ple weapons for insur­gents in the dis­trict, includ­ing anti-air­craft machine guns and rock­et-pro­pelled grenades. He also was involved in attack plan­ning tar­get­ing an Afghan secu­ri­ty check­point. The Afghan-led force tracked Rah­man to his com­pound and saw him armed with an assault rifle and try­ing to evade cap­ture. He was killed in the result­ing engage­ment, and two sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained. 

— In Kun­duz province’s Archi dis­trict, Kun­duz province, a com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who works with Tal­iban lead­ers to facil­i­tate the move­ment of weapons and bomb com­po­nents and is active­ly involved in attack planning. 

— A com­bined force cap­tured a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor and one of his asso­ciates in Kan­da­har province’s Zharay dis­trict yes­ter­day. The facil­i­ta­tor was involved with weapons pro­cure­ment from Pak­istan and also pro­vid­ed mate­ri­als for sui­cide attacks. 

— In Hel­mand province, an Afghan-led com­bined force detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents and found bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als in Kaja­ki dis­trict while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who pro­vides logis­ti­cal sup­port to insur­gents through­out north­ern Helmand. 

— Also in Hel­mand, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force in the Lashkar Gah dis­trict detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent leader believed to direct insur­gents in attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces and facil­i­tat­ing insur­gent weapons and explosives. 

— In Helmand’s Garm Ser dis­trict, a com­bined patrol found and destroyed 1,146 lbs of dry. 

— A coali­tion patrol in Kan­da­har province’s Shorabak dis­trict found near­ly 3,000 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate. 

— A com­bined force detained two sus­pects while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader in Khost province’s Sabari dis­trict. The tar­get­ed leader is in charge of a large group of fight­ers who are involved in road­side-bomb, car-bomb and direct attacks against Afghan secu­ri­ty forces. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Mai­wand dis­trict, a com­bined force —found 154 pounds of opi­um and seized 1 mil­lion Pak­istani rupees — about 11,660 U.S. dol­lars — as well as a vehi­cle, a motor­cy­cle and one cell phone dur­ing an oper­a­tion in which sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents were detained. 

— A coali­tion patrol in Bamyan province’s Kah­mard dis­trict found 14 grenades, 26 grenade fus­es, two 82 mm mor­tar grenades and 21 mor­tar grenade fuses. 

In June 9 operations: 

— A com­bined force in Nim­roz province’s Khash Rod dis­trict seized 1,653 pounds of wet opi­um, 11,023 pounds of sodi­um car­bon­ate, 13,228 pounds of ammo­ni­um chlo­ride and 50 bar­rels of oth­er chem­i­cals used in narcotics. 

In oth­er news, a com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force killed sev­er­al insur­gents who engaged them dur­ing a recent five-day oper­a­tion in Hel­mand province’s San­gin dis­trict. Dur­ing the oper­a­tion, the patrol found and seized four com­plet­ed road­side bombs, six pres­sure plates, home­made explo­sives, var­i­ous bomb com­po­nents and three assault rifles. 

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

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