Troops Kill Enemy Fighters, Find Weapons

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2011 – International Security Assistance Force troops in southern Afghanistan killed or wounded several insurgents over the past 24 hours, military officials reported.

During separate clearing operations in Helmand province, insurgents engaged three ISAF patrols with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in the province’s Sangin and Kajaki districts. Coalition forces returned fire and called for air support. The air weapons team supporting ground forces engaged the enemy positions, killing the insurgents.

Afghan and ISAF forces also discovered several caches in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

In Helmand, Uruzgan, Kandahar, Paktika and Zabul provinces, Afghan forces and ISAF patrols found three assault rifles, 20 full assault-rifle magazines, 3,000 small-arms rounds, two machine guns, 22 mortar rounds, three artillery rounds, 34 rocket-propelled grenades, a rocket, 17 RPG boosters, five RPG warheads, two anti-personnel mines and loose ammunition.

In addition, forces found 10 bomb detonators, homemade explosives, 100 pounds of the banned ammonium nitrate fertilizer often used in making explosives, 10 jugs of shrapnel and ball bearings, several electronic components, multiple pressure plates and three chest racks.

In other operations yesterday:

-- Afghan and coalition military forces detained a Taliban leader along with several other suspected insurgents in Kandahar province’s Arghandab district. The Taliban leader was responsible for storing and distributing enemy supplies and conducting attacks against coalition forces. He was associated with the district’s Taliban leaders, and reportedly had acquired bomb components, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and other equipment from a Taliban insurgent for an upcoming attack, officials said. The combined security force killed an armed insurgent who threatened them during the operation.

-- Afghan and coalition forces detained a Taliban leader in Ghazni province’s Gelan district, along with several other suspected insurgents. The Taliban district leader was responsible for planning, coordinating and conducting attacks against Afghan and coalition forces

-- In Takhar province’s Khwajah Ghar district, Afghan and coalition forces detained two suspected insurgents and killed several armed combatants while searching for a high-ranking senior leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan terrorist organization who specializes in bombing attacks against Afghan government officials and coordinates the district Taliban leader’s movements, officials said. Multiple intelligence sources led the security force to a building where armed combatants engaged them with small-arms fire. The security force returned fire, killing several armed combatants. The building caught fire and was rocked by multiple explosions. Villagers told the security force the Taliban forcibly took over the building’s guest house.

-- Afghan and coalition forces seeking a Taliban bomb manufacturer in Wardak province’s Sayyidabad district detained numerous suspected insurgents.

-- In Nimroz province’s Khash Rod district, Afghan and coalition forces detained several suspected insurgents while seeking a Taliban leader responsible for weapons facilitation.

-- ISAF troops killed numerous insurgents after receiving small-arms fire during a dismounted patrol in Helmand province’s Marja district. ISAF forces returned fire and called in close air support to suppress the insurgent fire. An insurgent wounded in the engagement was taken to a medical facility and detained.

In other news, Afghan forces and U.S. Navy SEALs conducted routine patrols in Zabul province Jan. 23, resulting in numerous insurgents killed, several others detained, and the destruction of numerous homemade bombs.

The insurgents were killed and detained when Afghan soldiers advised by SEALs were involved in an engagement with insurgents in the province’s Khak-e Afghan district.

On a separate patrol in Nawbahar district Afghan police, partnered with Afghan soldiers and U.S. Navy SEALs, found and destroyed three homemade bombs.