Afghan Commandos Capture Explosives Expert

American Forces Press Service

Nov. 13, 2008 - Afghan national security forces, assisted by their coalition partners, captured enemy bomb expert Badshah Khel in the Sabari district of Afghanistan's Khowst province last night, military officials reported. After receiving credible information from local Afghan officials, Afghan National Army commandos conducted an early morning raid on Badshah Khel's compound and captured him within minutes of initiating the operation, officials said, adding that no shots were fired and no noncombatants were harmed.

Badshah Khel is one of the most active roadside-bomb cell commanders in the area, and is responsible for numerous attacks against coalition and Afghan national security forces in the Khowst province, officials said.

In other news from Afghanistan, coalition forces acted in self-defense after a civilian vehicle, driving erratically, inserted itself into a military convoy in western Afghanistan yesterday. One Afghan was killed and another Afghan was wounded. The wounded person was taken to a local coalition base for treatment.

Coalition forces went through warning procedures, including firing warning shots, before the vehicle posed an imminent threat, officials said. Coalition forces then fired into the engine block of the civilian vehicle. A round ricocheted, resulting in the death of one of the civilians.

The incident occurred near the site of a suicide bombing that killed two coalition members Nov. 9.

The incident is under investigation.

(Compiled from U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)