Partnered Force Kills Haqqani Terrorist

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2011 — A part­nered Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force act­ing on intel­li­gence infor­ma­tion killed a Haqqani ter­ror­ist net­work facil­i­ta­tor and cap­tured anoth­er in the Sabari dis­trict of Afghanistan’s Khost province today, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.
The ter­ror­ists were respon­si­ble for plan­ning and car­ry­ing out road­side-bomb attacks against civil­ians and Afghan and coali­tion forces. The man who was cap­tured also was respon­si­ble for indi­rect-fire attacks through­out the dis­trict. He was wound­ed in the encounter and was detained at a coali­tion for­ward oper­at­ing base, where he had been tak­en for treat­ment.

Intel­li­gence reports led the secu­ri­ty force to the loca­tion of the two Haqqani facil­i­ta­tors. Dur­ing the oper­a­tion, the two Haqqani facil­i­ta­tors attempt­ed to flee the area. One engaged the force while flee­ing and the secu­ri­ty force returned fire, killing him. 

In oth­er oper­a­tions in Afghanistan today: 

— Act­ing on tips, an Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force seek­ing an Islam­ic Move­ment of Uzbek­istan ter­ror­ist orga­ni­za­tion leader in Saman­gan province’s Dara Soof Payan dis­trict detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insur­gents. The want­ed man is respon­si­ble for attacks tar­get­ing Afghan civil­ians and Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty forces and is involved in the con­struc­tion, facil­i­ta­tion and employ­ment of road­side bombs in the province. Secu­ri­ty forces found and destroyed an assault rifle, a pis­tol and a vari­ety of ammunition. 

— An Afghan and coali­tion secu­ri­ty force cap­tured a Tal­iban bomb-attack facil­i­ta­tor in Kan­da­har province’s Dand dis­trict in an intel­li­gence-dri­ven operation. 

— Act­ing on tips from civil­ians, a part­nered Afghan and coali­tion force seek­ing anoth­er Tal­iban bomb­ing cell leader in Kan­da­har detained sev­er­al sus­pect­ed insurgents. 

— In Zab­ul province’s Qalat dis­trict, Afghan and coali­tion forces seek­ing a Tal­iban bomb­ing cell leader detained a sus­pect­ed insur­gent in an oper­a­tion based on civil­ian tips. In addi­tion to build­ing Tal­iban bombs, the want­ed man report­ed­ly coor­di­nates the harass­ment of local peo­ple who don’t sup­port the Taliban. 

In oper­a­tions yesterday: 

— Coali­tion forces con­duct­ed a pre­ci­sion airstrike tar­get­ing a Haqqani net­work leader, killing two insur­gents and wound­ing one in Khost province’s Ter­ayzai dis­trict. The Haqqani leader is involved in the sup­ply of weapons, ammu­ni­tion, and vehi­cles to Haqqani oper­a­tives and par­tic­i­pates in attacks against Afghan and coali­tion forces. Just before the weapon struck the ter­ror­ists’ vehi­cle, an unas­so­ci­at­ed civil­ian vehi­cle and two pedes­tri­ans appeared. After the strike, the civil­ian vehi­cle came to a stop and sev­en pas­sen­gers were seen walk­ing away. Afghan forces spoke with the dri­ver, who said no one in his vehi­cle was injured. Efforts are under way to deter­mine the pedes­tri­ans’ sta­tus, offi­cials said. 

— An Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force patrol killed numer­ous insur­gents set­ting up a rock­et and mor­tar posi­tion in a known fir­ing loca­tion in Hel­mand province’s Reg‑e Khan Neshin district. 

—Also in Hel­mand two insur­gents were killed when they engaged coali­tion forces dur­ing sep­a­rate clear­ing oper­a­tions in San­gin and Nahr‑e Saraj districts. 

— In Helmand’s San­gin dis­trict, an airstrike killed sev­er­al insur­gents who engaged a part­nered Afghan and coali­tion force with small-arms fire. 

— An air weapons team sup­port­ing ground forces killed an insur­gent sniper in Helmand’s Nahr‑e Saraj district. 

— ISAF patrol in Helmand’s in Reg‑e Khan Neshin dis­trict engaged an ene­my posi­tion with small-arms and artillery fire, killing sev­er­al armed insur­gents and forc­ing oth­ers to flee.

— Afghan and ISAF forces in Hel­mand and Kan­da­har provinces found ene­my weapons stock­piles that includ­ed assort­ed weapons, ammu­ni­tion and bomb-mak­ing materials. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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