Partnered Forces Target Taliban in Helmand

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON – A partnered Afghan and International Security Assistance Force patrol killed several insurgents during an operation targeting two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan’s Helmand province yesterday, military officials reported.

The two Taliban leaders are active in facilitating and conducting attacks against Afghan and ISAF forces, officials said.

As the patrol was clearing the targeted compound, they were engaged by numerous armed insurgents. The force returned fire, killing several insurgents. Rifles and a pistol were found during a subsequent search of the area.

One man was detained during the operation and was taken by Afghan authorities for processing and further questioning.

In other operations in Afghanistan yesterday:

-- In an intelligence-driven operation, Afghan and coalition forces in Wardak province captured a Taliban leader involved in the manufacture of roadside bombs and in conducting attacks against coalition forces in the province’s Sayyidabad and Jaghatu districts. Recent reporting indicates his associates shot several Americans in the Jaghatu district, officials said.

-- Afghan and coalition forces acting on intelligence information detained more than 10 suspected insurgents as they targeted a former Haqqani terrorist network shadow governor in Khost province who is responsible for coordinating insurgent operations against the Bak District Center.

-- Coalition forces conducted an intelligence-driven precision airstrike in Badghis province’s Bala Murghab district, killing one insurgent. The strike’s target is responsible for numerous attacks against ISAF and Afghan forces elements, as well as kidnapping-for-ransom operations, officials said, emphasizing that the strike was conducted after ensuring no civilians were present. ISAF officials said they still are gathering information to determine whether the targeted man was the individual killed in the strike.

--In Nangarhar province’s Rodat district, Afghan and coalition forces killed an armed insurgent who threatened their security team during an intelligence-driven operation targeting a Taliban facilitator.

-- In Helmand province, a partnered security team detained numerous suspects and seized several “night letters” as they searched several buildings for a leader of Taliban fighters in Marja and Lashkar Gah. Taliban leaders deliver threats in night letters, bearing a Taliban symbol as letterhead, to local civilians and government officials, officials explained. The letters carry threats of death to recipients and their families if they do not comply with Taliban demands.

-- A partnered security force acting on intelligence information detained seven suspected insurgents during an operation targeting a Taliban leader in Gardez province.

In other news, a combined Afghan-ISAF patrol found and destroyed several weapons caches in Kabul province’s Sarobi district Dec. 15. Multiple intelligence sources and tips from local residents led the patrol to the caches, officials said.

The caches included 15 82 mm mortar rounds, 22 cans of heavy machine gun rounds, 15 82 mm high-explosive mortar rounds, 35 82 mm white phosphorus mortar rounds, 61 high-explosive 62 mm mortar rounds, 18,560 anti-aircraft rounds, two anti-personnel mines, 180 40 mm grenades, eight rocket-propelled grenades, 79 recoilless rifle rounds and various bomb-making materials.