Forces Target Terrorist Networks in Afghanistan

American Forces Press Service

June 30, 2009 - Afghan and coalition forces disrupted Taliban and Haqqani terrorist activities in recent operations in Afghanistan, military officials reported. Coalition forces launched precision air strikes overnight against senior Haqqani commanders and command posts in the remote mountains of western Khost province.

The militants are believed to have aided in the movement of foreign fighters through the Khost-Gardez Pass and throughout Afghanistan.

Coalition aircraft destroyed a pair of command bunkers, killing more than a dozen militants.

Elsewhere, Afghan forces, assisted by coalition forces, conducted multiple operations in Khost, Ghazni and Kandahar provinces June 28. The operations were intended to disrupt the flow of foreign fighters, weapons and explosives in the country.

In the Sabari district, north of Khost city in Khost province, the force searched a compound where intelligence sources indicated militant activity and detained 10 suspected Haqqani militants.

In the southern province of Ghazni, southeast of the city of Gilan, the force pursued suspected militants who were wearing suicide vests. When they engaged the force, the militants were killed. The force recovered several grenades, an AK-47 assault rifle and a Kalashnikov automatic weapon.

In Kandahar, the combined force assaulted a hideout believed to be the safe haven of a Taliban commander responsible for several roadside-bomb and small-arms attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the region.

The force was engaged by hostile fire during their search of the area and immediately eliminated the threat. The force recovered two AK-47 assault rifles, a Kalashnikov automatic weapon, military load-bearing equipment with magazines, two fragmentation grenades and two radios.

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