Coalition Forces Disrupt Kandahar Bomb Network

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 30, 2009 - Coalition forces in Afghanistan killed four militants and detained eight suspects during operations yesterday to disrupt Taliban bomb makers and militants in Kandahar. In Arghandab district, just outside the city, the operation targeted a Taliban operator known to have employed roadside bombs aimed against Afghan National Police and coalition forces.

When coalition forces reached the compound where the Taliban member was located, armed militants engaged them with small-arms fire. Militants barricaded themselves in a building, endangering the women and children on the compound. Coalition forces precisely engaged the barricaded militants after they refused to surrender, while safeguarding the women and children.

Other suspected militants on the compound followed instructions to surrender, and they were detained without incident.

Because a building damaged by the militants was deemed unsafe for occupants, coalition forces destroyed it after removing women and children to a safe distance.

During the operation, the force found AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and blasting caps.

Nine women and 17 children present on the compound were unharmed during the operation due to the precise actions of coalition forces, officials said.

(From a U.S. Forces Afghanistan news release.)