Afghan, Coalition Troops Detain Insurgents Across Afghanistan

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From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 20, 2011 – Afghan and coalition forces have captured numerous insurgent fighters throughout Afghanistan in recent days, and have killed several others in fire fights, military officials reported.

A combined Afghan and International Security Assistance Force team killed one insurgent and detained two suspects while searching for a Taliban communications liaison in the Now Zad district of Helmand province yesterday.

During the operation, the security force discovered a weapons cache consisting of a Russian PKM machine gun with 400 rounds of ammunition, multiple mortar rounds, pressure plates and an array of bomb-making materials with homemade explosives.

In ISAF operations in the north yesterday:

-- A combined security force detained multiple insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader in the Chimtal district of Balkh province. The leader is responsible for levying illegal taxes, extorting local companies, ordering attacks on Afghan forces, as well as coordinating with senior Taliban leaders in the region.

-- A combined force captured an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader and multiple suspects in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province. The leader is known for training suicide bombers in the region.

In operations in the south yesterday:

-- Forces detained multiple suspected insurgents in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province while searching for a Taliban leader who provides tactical guidance to fighters, and reports to senior leadership. The security force also seized bomb-making materials and black tar heroin, which will be disposed of.

-- A combined force detained a Taliban leader and multiple insurgents in Kandahar’s Panjwa’i district. The leader planned and executed roadside-bomb and direct-fire attacks against Afghan forces.

-- In Helmand’s Musa Qal’ah district, a combined Afghan and coalition force seized a drug cache consisting of 100 pounds of poppy seeds, which will be destroyed.

In operations in the east yesterday:

-- Combined Afghan and coalition forces killed several insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader in the Sayad Abad district of Wardak province. The leader was responsible for roadside-bomb and direct-fire attacks, as well as planning abductions throughout the region. Security forces discovered insurgents, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, hiding in a tree line. Responding to the threat, the security force engaged, killing three insurgents. After the engagement, the force seized multiple weapons to include AK-47s and grenades.

-- In the Zurmat district of Paktia province, a combined Afghan and coalition force detained a Haqqani network leader who recruited young men and sent them to insurgent training camps, and was involved in attacks against Afghan forces. No civilians were injured during the operation.

-- In the Nerkh district of Wardak province, a combined force detained two suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader responsible for attacks against Afghan forces.

-- A combined force detained one suspected insurgent while searching for a Taliban leader in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar province. The leader constructs roadside bombs, specializing in remote-controlled bombs, and is responsible for their use in the region.

-- Service members discovered a weapons cache in the Ghazni district of Ghazni province. Weapons seized during the operation consisted of 116 pounds of explosive-making chemicals, 69 small-arms weapons, one rocket-propelled grenade, 63 RPG rounds, 44 82 mm mortars, one grenade and various weapons components.

-- In the Khugyani and Sherzad districts of Nangarhar province, a combined force detained two Taliban leaders during Sept. 17 operations. Both captured leaders, one from the Khugyani district and the other from Sherzad, were involved in trafficking vehicles, weapons and roadside-bomb components throughout the area.