Forces Seize Weapons, Kill Attackers

American Forces Press Service

Feb. 9, 2010 - Afghan and international forces seized enemy weapons and killed insurgent attackers in operations in Afghanistan in recent days, military officials reported.

The Afghan National Army, supported by an international security patrol, destroyed 16 rockets and a mortar round in Kandahar province Feb. 7 and yesterday.

The Afghan soldiers were patrolling near Darivshan village when they received a tip about a weapons cache from an Afghan civilian. The soldiers went to the site and recovered 16 107 mm rockets. The following day, the same patrol element found an 82 mm mortar round in a garden near Shotor Gardon village.

An Afghan-led patrol in Paktika province yesterday found a large weapons cache after receiving a tip from a local resident in the Wazah Khwah district. The cache contained 54 artillery rounds, four mortar rounds and 18 fuses.

Also yesterday, a combined Afghan-international patrol discovered more than 20 mortar rounds in the Garm Ser district of Helmand province. Another combined patrol found 11 hand grenades and a rocket-propelled grenade round in the province's Kajaki district.

In a Feb. 6 operation in Helmand's Garm Ser district, an International Security Assistance Force patrol found 83 artillery rounds in a field.

On Feb. 5, an Afghan-international security force in the Musa Qaleh district of Helmand province killed two insurgents who attacked them with small-arms fire. Later, the force was engaged by more small-arms fire from different locations. A sniper supporting the patrol returned fire, killing another insurgent.

In another operation Feb. 5, a combined force found about 1,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, a belt of shotgun rounds, assault-rifle magazines and binoculars in Helmand's Garm Ser district of Helmand province.

(Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command news releases.)