Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill, Detain Insurgents

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2011 – Afghan and coalition forces killed numerous insurgents and detained several others in recent operations throughout Afghanistan, military officials reported.

Coalition troops from an air weapons and surveillance team today saw several armed men maneuver to a known insurgent location in Kunar province’s Watahpur district. The team determined that the men posed an imminent threat to security forces and the community. They followed the assessment with a precision airstrike, killing several insurgents.

In other operations today:

-- Afghan and coalition forces killed two insurgents and wounded several others in Helmand province’s Sangin district who were planning an attack on a nearby coalition outpost. An air weapons team spotted the insurgents preparing fighting positions near the outpost. The team thwarted the would-be attack with a precision airstrike.

-- A coalition air weapons team killed two insurgents in Ghazni province’s Muqer district after a coalition patrol came under attack. The patrolling troops requested air support after a taking enemy gunfire and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Air support killed two enemy fighters and caused the rest to flee.

-- Afghan and coalition forces detained two suspected insurgents believed to have ties to weapons and drug trafficking. These operations resulted in seizure of 220 pounds aluminum powder, 132 pounds of the banned ammonium nitrate fertilizer used to make roadside bombs, 56 mortars and rockets, 11 assault rifles, eight rocket-propelled grenades, six hand grenades, six completed bombs, more than a thousand rounds of small arms ammunition and assorted bomb-making materials. Security forces also found 176 pounds of hashish, 44 pounds of opium and 26 pounds of heroin.

-- Officials from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force confirmed the identity of a Taliban leader killed Jan. 3 in Kunduz province. Afghan and coalition forces killed Mullah Janat Gul in the province’s Imam Sahib district. He was responsible for weapons trafficking, kidnappings and Taliban recruiting throughout the province.

In operations yesterday:

-- Based on tips for local residents, Afghan and coalition forces in Helmand province’s Garm Ser district detained several suspected insurgents in an operation that targeted a Taliban leader responsible for trafficking weapons and foreign fighters to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

-- Security forces detained numerous suspected insurgents in Kandahar province’s Panjawi district while searching for a Taliban leader responsible for bombing attacks and weapons trafficking. Tips from local residents led security forces to his suspected location, where the suspects were detained without incident. After searching the area, troops discovered a Taliban bunker complex. They requested an air weapons team, which destroyed the bunker with a precision airstrike.

-- Security forces detained four insurgents in Khost province’s Sabari district. Troops were searching for a Haqqani terrorist network leader responsible for leading numerous attacks on security forces in the province’s Sabari and Bak districts.

-- Acting on tips from local residents, Afghan and coalition forces captured a Taliban leader in Nangarhar province’s Sherzad district. The Taliban leader is responsible for killing nearby villages that cooperated with local security forces against the Taliban.