Combined Forces Make Gains in Afghanistan

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

April 19, 2010 - Afghan and international forces killed several insurgents and captured at least one other, according to initial reports of a firefight in Afghanistan's Ghazni province this morning, military officials said.

The forces were moving through the Qarah Bagh district in search of a senior Taliban commander and were approaching a compound when multiple insurgents engaged the force with machine guns, small arms, grenades, and rocket-propelled grenades. The combined force returned fire, killing several insurgents.

As the combined force secured the compound, they continued to receive small-arms fire, grenades and heavy machine-gun fire from insurgents throughout the village.

A search of the target area revealed a vehicle-mounted 12.7 mm heavy machine gun, heavy-machine-gun ammunition, multiple automatic rifles, grenades, RPGs, RPG launchers, and communications equipment.

In other recent operations in Afghanistan:

-- In Helmand's Garm Ser district this morning, a combined patrol found a Russian-made 122 mm projectile, three incomplete bombs, five pressure-plate triggering devices and other bomb-making materials.

-- In Kandahar province this morning, an International Security Assistance Force patrol found a cache containing five blocks of plastic explosive, an RPG and three RPG propellant charges.

-- In Ghazni province last night, a combined force searched a small compound in the Gelan district and detained several suspected insurgents for further questioning.

-- In Kandahar's Khakrez district last night, a combined patrol came under small-arms fire. They returned fire, wounding an insurgent. During a search, the force captured a suspected Taliban commander responsible for leading armed fighters in attacks against coalition forces, and the movement of weapons and supplies. Several other insurgents were also detained, and the force found automatic rifles and a shotgun.

-- In Khost province yesterday, a combined force was en route to search a compound in the Sabari district when suspected insurgents departed in two directions and one of the insurgents engaged the force. The security force returned fire and killed a suspected Haqqani terrorist group weapons trafficker. The security force found a machine gun, magazines and grenades at the site and detained another suspected insurgent for further questioning.

-- A combined force targeted two suspected Taliban insurgents in a vehicle in a rural area of Kandahar province's Daman district yesterday. The two

demonstrated hostile intent and were shot and killed. A search of the militants found 10 blasting caps and a probable homemade bomb.

-- In Helmand province's Nad-e Ali district yesterday, a combined force found two RPG boosters, an 82 mm mortar, nine pressure plate devices, eight blasting caps, 100 feet of detonation cord, 61 pounds of explosive material, bomb-making materials, 200 rounds of small-arms ammunition and a disassembled anti-aircraft gun.

-- Another patrol in the same district yesterday found a cache containing six rocket-assisted warheads, two boosters, nine chest rigs, a pressure plate initiation device; a 50-pound jug of homemade explosives and miscellaneous shrapnel. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the hazardous material.

-- In Kandahar's Registan district yesterday, an ISAF patrol came across a burning truck that matched the description of one seen earlier avoiding a checkpoint. Troops searching the scene discovered that the truck contained about 500 pounds of hashish and heroin.

-- In Kabul province's Sarobi district yesterday, an ISAF patrol found 43 anti-personnel mines, 20 rockets, five mortar rounds, an anti-tank mine and 40 boxes of 12.7 mm rounds.

-- An ISAF patrol Ghazni's Gelan district yesterday found a five RPGs, 12 mortar grenades, two assault rifles, a shotgun and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition.

-- In Kandahar's Arghandab district yesterday, an Afghan civilian pointed out a roadside bomb to an ISAF patrol. It consisted of an 88 mm mortar round and three shaped charges.

-- A combined patrol found two trucks containing 2,040 pounds of raw opium, 1,875 pounds of processed opium and 615 pounds of hashish in the Garm Ser district of Helmand province yesterday. The truck's occupants were taken into custody.

-- An Afghan-international patrol in Helmand's Nad-e Ali district yesterday found 150 pounds of homemade explosives and a 100-pound drum of ammonium nitrate, a banned fertilizer that can be used to make explosives.

-- A combined security force captured a Taliban bombing-cell commander and other militants in Helmand province April 17.

-- In Helmand's Garm Ser district April 17, a combined patrol found a 120 mm projectile, five completed roadside bombs, three incomplete roadside bombs, three battery packs, some spools of wire, a bag of carbon rods, rubber tubing and other parts for bomb construction.

-- In Helmand's Lashkar Gar district April 17, a combined patrol detained several men and seized high-value material used to build roadside-bomb detonators. The team seized two assault rifles with 15 magazines, material used to build detonators, a pistol, two grenades, and 165 pounds of liquid opium.

-- Based on a tip from an Afghan civilian, an ISAF patrol found a barrel full of mortar rounds, a tactical vest and wire, two 155 mm artillery rounds, a 155 mm shell and three empty casings in the Panjwa district of Kandahar province April 17.

-- An ISAF patrol in Helmand's Reg-e Khan Neshin district found 200 pounds of marijuana seed near the Helmand River.

No civilians were harmed in any of these operations, officials said.