Combined Force Captures Haqqani Leader

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2011 – A combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Haqqani terrorist network leader and killed two Haqqani insurgents in the Nadir Shah Kot district of Afghanistan’s Khost province yesterday, military officials reported.

The leader coordinated attacks and was responsible for supplying insurgents with ammunition, small arms and rockets, officials said.

Intelligence sources and tips from civilians led the security force to a compound, where they were engaged by two armed insurgents, who they killed. After interviewing residents, the force identified and detained the Haqqani leader.

In other operations yesterday:

-- Combined forces acting on intelligence information detained numerous suspected insurgents while searching for a Hezb-E Islami Gulbuddin terrorist organization leader in Baghlan province’s Baghlan-e Jadid district. The leader is the chief logistics officer for operations and the chief political officer in Baghlan, and he leads a group of 25 fighters. During the search, the troops found several assault rifles, a shotgun, a pistol, a chest rack and ammunition magazines.

-- Multiple insurgents engaged an Afghan and coalition patrol in Kandahar province’s Zharay district, Kandahar province. The combined force repelled the attack and detained numerous persons of interest and found more than 3 tons of marijuana.

-- A coalition unit in Helmand province’s Marja district found 600 7.62 mm rounds, three loaded assault-rifle magazines, an assault rifle, a directional fragmentation charge, an ammunition container, a pair of binoculars, a mortar sight, and about 50,000 Pakistani rupees equivalent to about 500 U.S. dollars.

-- In Kandahar province’s Panjwai district, Afghan and coalition forces found 1,540 pounds of homemade explosives, along with several blocks of TNT.

-- A combined force detained two suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader during a security operation in Wardak province’s Sayyidabad district. The leader plans and participates in bomb and ambush attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Ghazni province, a combined force captured a Taliban leader and several of his associates in the province’s Ghazni district. The leader directed supply movements and roadside-bomb attacks on coalition forces.

-- A combined Afghan and coalition force acting on intelligence information in Khost province’s Nadar Shah Kot district detained two suspected insurgents while searching for a Haqqani network facilitator responsible for providing safe havens for Haqqani leaders.

-- In Nangarhar province’s Sherzad district, a combined force captured a Taliban leader and several of his associates. The leader was a suicide-vest facilitator.

-- In Badghis province’s Murghab district a combined Afghan and coalition forces detained a suspected insurgent during a clearing operation to disrupt an insurgent safe haven.

In April 23 operations:

-- A combined force captured a Taliban leader and several of his associates in an intelligence-based operation in Kunduz province’s Kunduz district. The leader provided weapons and security for insurgents and was responsible for attacks on multiple targets, including polling places during September’s election. The force found blasting caps on two of the suspects and also found assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade with components, chest racks and multiple loaded magazines at the scene.

-- A combined force captured a Taliban financier and numerous suspected insurgents during an intelligence-driven operation in Kandahar province’s Daman district. The financier was responsible for transporting weapons and bomb-making materials, as well as funding Taliban cells. The combined force found an assault rifle and several pistols.

-- A coalition force in Kandahar province’s Panjwai district found a roadside bomb and saw several insurgents planting more. After several hours of observation, the insurgent compound was destroyed with high-explosive rounds and an airstrike.

-- In Logar province’s Charkh district, a combined force acting on intelligence information detained several suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban facilitator who assists with the coordination, execution and training of attack techniques targeting Afghan and coalition forces.

-- Afghan and coalition forces detained numerous suspected insurgents in Kunduz province’s Kunduz district. Among those detained was a man suspected of leading a cell of 20 Taliban fighters and facilitating the shipment of homemade bombs throughout Kunduz. Another detainee is suspected of providing and building bombs for local Taliban groups.

-- A combined patrol in Helmand province’s Marja district found six rocket-propelled grenade rounds, a 15 mm shell casing, 700 machine-gun rounds, five 82 mm mortar charges, two radios, an electrical outlet tester and two handles used to change barrels on a machine gun.

In April 22 operations:

-- Afghan and coalition forces killed several insurgents, detained several others and secured enemy weapons in Uruzgan province’s Shahid-E Hasas district. The target of the operation was a compound associated with insurgents operating in the area. Several insurgents were killed when they engaged the patrol with small-arms fire, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The force recovered an assault rifle with ammunition, nine grenades and a homemade bomb device.

-- In Kandahar province’s Kandahar district, Afghan and coalition forces found two poppy fields. Afghan forces plowed both fields and burned the plants. The illicit poppy and drug trade helps to finance the insurgency.

-- In Nimroz province’s Knash Rod district, coalition forces found and destroyed 3,274 pounds of opium gum and 272 pounds of heroin. The drugs were destroyed by security forces.

-- A coalition forces patrol in Paktia province’s Sayyid Karam district found about 2,000 machine-gun rounds, a machine gun, three rocket-propelled grenade fuses and a mortar fuse, a rifle and various articles of tactical clothing.

-- Afghan and coalition forces killed an insurgent who advanced on them with a pistol and detained several suspects while searching for a roadside-bomb facilitator in Takhar province’s Ishkamish district. The facilitator, an explosives expert, supports both Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Taliban senior leaders.

-- Afghan and coalition forces acting on intelligence information detained several suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban facilitator in Helmand province’s Kajaki district. The facilitator coordinates the movement of narcotics to Nimroz province and receives weapons shipments. He also directs roadside-bomb placement and ensures Taliban leaders have received bomb components. The force also discovered 400,000 in Pakistan rupees, the currency typically used for drug and weapons transfers, officials said. The sum is the equivalent of more than 4,700 U.S. dollars.

-- In Kandahar province’s Zhari district, Afghan and coalition forces acting on intelligence information detained a suspect while searching for a Taliban leader involved with numerous attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- Coalition forces in Ghaqzni province’s Andar district used close-air support to kill two insurgents who were observed digging a hole near a road and dropping an object into it while others set up multiple ambush positions and an observation post with radios and weapons. A ground force recovered two assault rifles, a machine gun, a motorcycle and a 40-pound pressure-plate bomb from the site.

-- In Wardak province’s Sayed Abad district, Afghan and coalition forces killed an insurgent who tried to fire on them and detained several suspects while searching for a Taliban leader who coordinates operations in the district and maintains close associations with other Taliban leaders in the area. The force found and destroyed grenades, a bomb initiator and chest racks along with the dead insurgent’s assault rifle.

-- In Paktia province’s Shwak district, Afghan and coalition forces acting on intelligence information captured a Haqqani network facilitator who plans attacks against coalition forces and transports and supplies bomb-making materials for other Haqqani insurgents.

-- During an intelligence-based clearing operation in Logar province’s Baraki Barak district, Afghan and coalition forces detained two men with suspected ties to the Taliban insurgency after talking with local residents about insurgent activity in the area.

-- In Nimroz province’s Chakhansur district, a coalition patrol found and destroyed 4,180 pounds of opium gum, 264 pounds of heroin and 12 bags of fresh opium.

-- Coalition and Afghan forces in Kandahar province’s Zharey district found and destroyed 1,500 pounds of hashish.

In April 21 operations:

-- A combined Afghan and coalition force vehicle interdiction operation secured a large quantity of narcotics in Kandahar province’s Spin Boldak district, destroying about 4,190 pounds of opium gum, 264 pounds of heroin and 12 bags of fresh opium.

-- Also in Kandahar, a combined force conducting a vehicle interdiction operation in the Maiwand district found and destroyed about 15 tons of bomb-making chemicals.