Force Kills Taliban Leader, Detains Insurgents

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 21, 2011 — Afghan and coali­tion forces killed a Tal­iban leader and sev­er­al insur­gents, detained oth­ers and seized weapons through­out Afghanistan in recent days, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

In Balkh province’s Chim­tal dis­trict, a com­bined force killed a Tal­iban leader and detained two sus­pect­ed insur­gents yes­ter­day. The leader, Mul­lah Yar Mohammed, was respon­si­ble for kid­nap­pings, weapons facil­i­ta­tion and ambush­es on Afghan forces. 

The force also con­fis­cat­ed rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and a launcher. 

Mean­while, a coali­tion patrol in Ghazni province’s Andar dis­trict today dis­cov­ered and safe­ly destroyed 882 pounds of home­made explo­sives, two recoil­less rifles and bomb-mak­ing materials. 

In Afghanistan news yesterday: 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force in Bagh­lan province’s Andarab dis­trict seized 24 grenades, four rock­ets, two rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and bomb-mak­ing mate­ri­als. The force safe­ly destroyed the weapons. 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force in Zab­ul province’s Now Zad dis­trict detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban facil­i­ta­tor who pro­vides reports to Pak­istan-based Tal­iban and serves as a com­mu­ni­ca­tions con­duit for insur­gents through­out the region. 

— In Kan­da­har province’s Spin Boldak dis­trict, a com­bined patrol seized 794 pounds of ammo­ni­um nitrate alu­minum, which is used in the con­struc­tion of home­made bombs. The secu­ri­ty force safe­ly destroyed the explosive. 

— A coali­tion secu­ri­ty force in Hel­mand province’s Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict detained mul­ti­ple insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who direct­ly sup­ports Tal­iban oper­a­tions by pro­vid­ing tac­ti­cal guid­ance to sub­or­di­nate fight­ers, and reports insur­gent activ­i­ty to senior leadership. 

— In Nan­garhar province’s Jalal­abad dis­trict, a com­bined secu­ri­ty force detained mul­ti­ple sus­pect­ed insur­gents while search­ing for a Tal­iban leader who con­ducts attacks against Afghan forces in the region. 

In Sept. 19 Afghanistan news: 

— A com­bined secu­ri­ty force in Pak­tia province’s Dzad­ran dis­trict killed numer­ous insur­gents while search­ing for a Haqqani net­work leader who man­ages insur­gent oper­a­tions in Khost and Pak­tia provinces, as well as orga­nizes the move­ment of fight­ers from Pak­istan to Afghanistan. 

The force locat­ed a hide­out where sev­er­al insur­gents were observed in fight­ing posi­tions, pos­tur­ing for an attack against the force. Respond­ing to threats, air sup­port fired upon the area, result­ing in the death of numer­ous insurgents. 

The force also seized assault rifles, machine guns, rock­et-pro­pelled grenade launch­ers and frag­men­ta­tion grenades. No civil­ians were harmed dur­ing the operation. 

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