Combined Force Captures Key Taliban Operative

From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

June 17, 2010 - A combined Afghan-international force captured a Taliban subcommander responsible for coordinating attacks and the movement of bomb-making materials and detained several suspected insurgents in Afghanistan's Kandahar province last night, military officials reported.

The security force searched a remote building in the province's Daman district after intelligence sources confirmed insurgent activity. No shots were fired in this operation, which was designed to capture insurgent facilitators and reduce attacks against coalition forces and civilians, officials said.

In other news from Afghanistan, an International Security Assistance Force patrol discovered large quantities of drugs in Helmand province's Garm Ser district June 15. The force found almost a half ton of opium hidden under a false floor in a truck after the driver tried to avoid a vehicle checkpoint. The driver and a passenger were detained.

In a separate action, the same unit seized more than 2 pounds of amphetamines on a farm tractor and detained several individuals who tested positive for using the drug.

The narcotics trade funds and supports the insurgency and constitutes a direct threat to Afghanistan, officials noted.