Afghan, Coalition Forces Detain Suspects in Khost

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2011 – Afghan and coalition military forces looking for a Haqqani terrorist network leader detained several suspected insurgents in the Sabari district of Afghanistan’s Khost province yesterday, military officials reported.

The Haqqani leader coordinates and conducts attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and teaches other Haqqani insurgents new tactics for booby-trapping houses with explosives, officials said.

Also yesterday, forces in Afghanistan found several caches of enemy weapons:

-- A combined Afghan-coalition patrol found 13 grenades, two mines, 700 7.62 mm rounds and seven assault-rifle magazines in Kandahar province’s Kandahar district, and a combined patrol in Kapisa province’s Tagab district found a riot gun, three artillery shells, a fuse, 25 mortar shells and 21 82 mm shells.

-- Separate combined patrols in Kandahar’s Panjwai district found six 82 mm fuses, 17 82 mm rounds, five rocket-propelled grenade rounds, three directional fragmentation charges, a jug full of assault-rifle rounds, three assembled bombs, a jug of homemade explosives, three detonators, a timer and 820 feet of wire.

-- In Kandahar’s Zharay district, a combined patrol found 18 grenades, a jug of shrapnel, wire and loose ammunition.

-- An International Security Assistance Force unit in Helmand province’s Marja district found 117 7.62 mm rounds and multiple weapons.

In Feb. 5 operations:

-- Coalition forces killed several insurgents and confiscated 48 122 mm rocket warheads, 49 rocket motors, 49 rocket fuses, and 1,000 7.62 mm rounds during a vehicle interdiction in Nimroz province’s Chahur Burjak district.

-- Afghan and coalition units operating in Nangarhar province’s Khugyani district found 990 pounds of heroin and 990 pounds of opium, along with a rocket-propelled grenade, two bags of machine-gun rounds, an ammunition belt, four full assault-rifle magazines, 12 batteries and assorted bomb-making supplies and chemicals.

-- A combined patrol operating in Kandahar’s Panjwai district found 15 rocket-propelled grenade rounds.

-- An Afghan and ISAF patrol in Kapisa’s Tagab district found 160 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, 20 5.56 mm rounds, 15 5.45 mm rounds, seven grenades, a combat vest and assorted magazines, fuses, radios and ammunition.

-- Acting on tips, an ISAF force in Kabul province’s Khak-e Jabar district recovered 32 RPG rounds.

-- Local residents turned in 23 107 mm rockets and 672 14.5 mm rounds to an ISAF post in Ghor province’s Chaghcharan district.

In other news, fragmentation from an ISAF air weapons team strike killed an Afghan child in Helmand province’s Nad-e Ali district today. Officials said service members discovered the child had been killed in a compound near the target after the strike, which was part of an operation to disrupt insurgents’ command and control and bomb-attack networks.

"This is a deeply regrettable accident," said Army Col. Patrick Hynes, ISAF Joint Command’s combined joint operations center director. "Our thoughts and concerns are with the family during this difficult time."