Officials Confirm Leader’s Capture

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2010 – Officials from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan today confirmed the identity of a Taliban leader captured Dec. 4 in Paktika province, military officials reported.

Afghan and coalition forces captured the Taliban leader in the province’s Yosuf Khel district. He is believed responsible for attacks on security forces in the area. Coalition troops killed another insurgent during the operation after he brandished a weapon at the troops.

Also today in Afghanistan, Afghan and coalition forces confiscated two weapons caches. Troops found one rocket-propelled grenade launcher and more than 100 rounds of assault rifle ammunition in Helmand province’s Marja district. Troops also found two hand grenades, one assault rifle and various small-arms ammunition during an operation in Kandahar.

In operations yesterday:

-- ISAF officials confirmed the death of Taliban leader Par Gul Khan, a known weapons trafficker and scout. Coalition forces tracked Khan to a remote area of Wardak’s Sayyidabad district Dec. 3 and killed him with an airstrike.

-- Afghan and coalition forces detained three suspected insurgents, including an alleged Haqqani network member, in Paktiya province’s Gardez city. Troops surrounded a compound where the Haqqani member apparently based operations. He allegedly is connected to a suicide bombing that killed two coalition troops and wounded several others in the area earlier in the day.

-- Afghan and coalition forces captured a Haqqani network leader and two suspected insurgents in Khost province. The Haqqani leader reportedly carried out and ordered bombing and direct fire attacks on security forces in the province. The men were detained without incident.

-- In Paktiya’s Tsamkani district, security forces removed a homemade bomb from a local hospital before insurgents could detonate it. The bomb consisted of two mortar rounds connected to a cell phone and was covered with a scarf. No troops or civilians were injured during the incident.

-- In Wardak province’s Maiden Shahr district, an Afghan and coalition patrol confiscated more than 200 rounds of small-arms ammunition, 100 bomb detonation fuses, 10 rocket-propelled grenades, and 9 various rockets and mortars.

In Dec. 4 operations:

-- ISAF officials confirmed the identity of a Taliban leader killed Dec. 1 in Helmand. Juma Gul, a Taliban leader known for running a bombing cell was killed in an airstrike. Afghan and coalition surveillance teams tracked Gul traveling with an associate on a motorcycle for several hours. The airstrike occurred once the two rode into a remote area.

-- ISAF officials confirmed the identities of a two Taliban leaders captured recently in Ghazni and Zabul provinces. The Taliban leader from Ghazni was captured Dec. 2 in the Gelan district without incident. He is believed responsible for planning and ordering attacks on Afghan and coalition forces.

The Taliban leader from Zabul reportedly leads a bombing cell responsible for ambushing Afghan and coalition troops. He was detained Nov. 30 without incident in the province’s Shah Joy district.

-- Afghan and coalition forces killed one insurgent and detained another in Paktikia’s Yosuf Khel district. Security forces were searching for a senior Taliban leader responsible for planning and coordinating attacks against them when they came under attack during a search of the suspected leader’s compound. No troops or civilians were injured during the operation.

-- Afghan and coalition forces captured several suspected insurgents, including an alleged Haqqani network leader, in Khost’s Sabari district. The Haqqani leader is known for planning and conducting attacks against security forces. Tips from local residents led security forces to the leader’s location. The suspects were detained without incident.

-- Security forces detained two suspected insurgents, including an alleged Taliban leader, in Wardak’s Sayyidabad district. The Taliban leader has links to several recently-captured Taliban members who operated in the province. The insurgents fled the compound while security forces moved in to surround them. However, troops pursued the insurgents, capturing them later that night.

-- Troops in Helmand’s Dishu district found an explosive chemicals cache that included 2,800 pounds of urea nitrate, two empty fuel tanks, and $6,500. Several suspected insurgents were detained.

-- In Zabul’s Qalat district, troops found more than 550 pounds of ammonium nitrate.

-- Separate operations in Kandahar resulted in the confiscation of more than 2,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, more than 100 pounds of explosives, 27 hand grenades, 12 rocket-propelled grenades and one assault rifle.