Combined Patrol Pursuing Taliban Leader Kills Insurgents

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2010 – A partnered Afghan and International Security Assistance Force patrol killed numerous insurgents while attempting to detain a senior Taliban leader in the Kajaki district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province today, military officials reported.

The Taliban leader has planned, coordinated and executed roadside-bomb attacks against Afghan and ISAF forces, officials said, and now directs attacks and facilitates financial support to several Taliban groups in the province.

He also is linked directly to senior Taliban leaders in Pakistan who provide direction and financial assistance, they added.

Multiple intelligence sources and tips from local residents led the joint security force to a series of compounds. During clearance operations, four armed insurgents were killed when they tried to engage the security force.

A search of the compounds yielded several automatic weapons and more than 40 pounds of heroin. Several suspected insurgents were detained during the operation.

In other news from Afghanistan:

-- An ISAF air strike killed an insurgent today in support of a combined operation in Kandahar province’s Shah Wali Kot district. Air assets tracked two insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons moving on a motorcycle. They fired one Hellfire missile, killing one and injuring the other. The injured insurgent was evacuated by an accomplice on a motorcycle before coalition forces could reach his location. Initial reports indicate no civilians were injured in this operation, officials said.

-- A combined security force captured a Taliban leader extremely active in the facilitation, manufacture and use of roadside bombs in Logar province’s Baraki Barak district during an overnight intelligence-driven operation yesterday. The targeted individual also participates in the facilitation of weapons and ammunition to be used in attacks.

-- In western Nimroz province, a combined force targeting a senior Taliban leader involved in vehicle-borne bombings and complex attacks throughout Farah and Nimroz provinces detained at least eight suspected insurgents during an intelligence-driven overnight operation. The targeted individual is also a key facilitator and attack coordinator in the area’s weapons and bomb-attack facilitation network.

-- Coalition forces conducted a precision air strike in Khost province yesterday targeting a senior Haqqani terrorist network leader who coordinates and conducts attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. Coalition forces saw him with a group of insurgents in a remote area of Khost district as they were planting a bomb along a road. After careful planning to avoid civilian causalities, coalition forces conducted the precision air strike, killing several insurgents. ISAF officials are trying to verify that the targeted Haqqani leader was among those killed in the strike.

-- ISAF officials confirmed that Hibati, another senior Haqqani leader, was killed in Paktia province Oct. 30.

-- Coalition forces came under fire by insurgents yesterday while conducting several meetings with community leaders in Helmand province’s Nad-e Ali district. Coalition forces positively identified the insurgent's position and returned fire with small arms and indirect fire. Insurgents returned indirect fire, striking a compound, killing five Afghan civilians and wounding nine others, according to initial reports. Two of the people killed and six of the wounded were children, officials said. Coalition forces immediately began providing medical care to the wounded civilians and called for medical evacuation. Insurgents again opened fire while a medical team airlifted the wounded civilians to an ISAF treatment facility.

–– Polish and American doctors from Task Force White Eagle saved the life of an 8-year-old Afghan girl wounded when insurgents attacked Afghan security guards in southern Ghazni province Nov. 2. The girl’s brother took her to Forward Operating Base Warrior seeking medical care, telling servicemembers there that his sister was injured when insurgents attacked a civilian convoy. Polish medics provided initial medical care, but it soon became necessary to transport the girl by helicopter to Forward Operating Base Ghazni's field hospital for surgery. The operation was a success, and the girl was transported to a provincial hospital in Ghazni City.