Karzai, Allen Condemn Paktia Province Attack

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2011 — Afghan Pres­i­dent Hamid Karzai and Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, com­man­der of the Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force, joint­ly con­demned yesterday’s insur­gent rock­et attack in the city of Zarmat in Afghanistan’s Pak­tiya province, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

The attack killed sev­er­al civil­ians and wound­ed numer­ous oth­ers, includ­ing a child, offi­cials said. 

Ini­tial reports indi­cate the ter­ror­ists tar­get­ed a pub­lic area, killing and injur­ing peo­ple shop­ping in prepa­ra­tion for their break­ing of the Ramadan fast. 

In a state­ment issued yes­ter­day, the gen­er­al extend­ed his con­do­lences to fam­i­lies of those killed or injured in the attack. 

“The insur­gents must real­ize that each of these heinous attacks con­firms the true nature of their cause,” Allen said, “and strength­ens the resolve of the Afghan peo­ple against them.” 

In oth­er Afghanistan news yesterday: 

— A com­bined Afghan and coali­tion force detained a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor and two of his asso­ciates in the Sabari dis­trict of Khost province. The facil­i­ta­tor is respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing the move­ment of road­side bombs and oth­er weapons, and pro­vid­ing reports to Haqqani lead­ers. The force seized assault rifles, a chest rack and ammunition. 

— In the Kun­duz dis­trict of Kun­duz province, a com­bined force detained a sus­pect while search­ing for an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion leader. The leader is involved in for­eign-fight­er facil­i­ta­tion and train­ing in the Burkah dis­trict of Bagh­lan province. 

— A com­bined force detained sev­er­al sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing a Tal­iban leader in the Nahr‑e Saraj dis­trict of Hel­mand province. The leader plans sui­cide attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— A com­bined patrol detained a sus­pect dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader in the Sha­joy dis­trict of Zab­ul province. The insur­gent leader arranges weapon trans­fers and road­side bomb emplacements. 

— In the Charkh dis­trict of Log­ar province, a com­bined force detained two sus­pects dur­ing a search for a Tal­iban leader. The leader over­sees insur­gent oper­a­tions in the Bara­ki Barak and Charkh districts. 

— A com­bined patrol detained sev­er­al sus­pects and dis­cov­ered a weapons cache dur­ing an oper­a­tion to dis­rupt an insur­gent net­work in the Shin­dand dis­trict of Her­at province. The tar­get­ed insur­gent net­work is respon­si­ble for attacks against Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces. The patrol seized and destroyed 257 sub­mu­ni­tions, 19 mor­tar rounds, 19 fus­es, 13 mor­tar war­heads, 10 artillery rounds and some small-arms ammunition. 

— A com­bined force detained numer­ous sus­pects dur­ing an oper­a­tion tar­get­ing an insur­gent leader in the Tarin Kot dis­trict of Uruz­gan province. The leader is linked to the emplace­ment of impro­vised explo­sive devices used against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

— In the Khas Uruz­gan dis­trict of Uruz­gan province, a com­bined patrol killed two insur­gents and wound­ed two sus­pects. The two insur­gents were killed after they engaged the patrol with rock­et-pro­pelled grenades and small-arms fire. The two wound­ed sus­pects were pro­vid­ed med­ical aid and were detained for ques­tion­ing. The patrol seized and destroyed some small arms and ammunition. 

— A com­bined patrol killed two insur­gents dur­ing an oper­a­tion in the Khash Rod dis­trict of Nim­roz province. The patrol encoun­tered an explod­ing ene­my IED and small-arms fire. The patrol returned fire, killing the two insur­gents. Some small arms and ammu­ni­tion were seized and destroyed. 

— In the Nad‑e Ali dis­trict of Hel­mand province, a com­bined force detained two sus­pects dur­ing a search for an insur­gent leader. The leader is respon­si­ble for sev­er­al IED attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. 

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