Forces in Afghanistan Capture Key Taliban Leaders

American Forces Press Service

Aug. 31, 2009 - Afghan forces and NATO-led International Security Assistance troops captured two key Taliban leaders, including a commander, during a joint operation in the Kanday village of Chapa Dara district in Afghanistan's Kunar province Aug. 29. Qari Azimullah is a Taliban commander in the district, and has been directly linked to several roadside-bomb attacks in the province, one of which resulted in the recent death of a U.S. servicemember.

A second captured man is another suspected Taliban leader in the area who also has been linked to bombings in Kunar province, officials said.

Two additional men were detained. A large weapons cache, including a suicide vest and bomb-making materials, was seized during the operation.

Afghan and ISAF troops protected several women and children who were nearby during the operation when insurgents began firing weapons at troops in the village. No civilians, Afghan troops or ISAF soldiers were killed or injured during the operation, officials said.

(From a Combined Joint Task Force 82 news release.)