Combined Forces Capture Insurgent Leaders

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force and ISAF Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2012 – Combined Afghan and coalition security forces captured two insurgent leaders in Afghanistan today, military officials reported.

A combined force in Helmand province’s Nahr-e Saraj district captured a Taliban leader who has built roadside bombs and trained insurgent fighters for attacks against coalition forces. Two other suspected insurgents were detained during the operation.

In Khost province’s Sabari district, Khost province, a combined force captured a Haqqani network leader who procured weapons for insurgent fighters and conducted roadside-bomb attacks. The security force seized weapons, bomb-making materials and detained other insurgents during the operation.

In other news from Afghanistan, a coalition patrol in Helmand province’s Nahr-e Saraj district found and seized various bomb-making components yesterday.

Also yesterday, a combined force found and destroyed about 2,420 pounds of hashish and about 880 pounds of marijuana seeds during a routine patrol yesterday in Kandahar province’s Panjwai district.

In other news, an insurgent bomb attack today at a bazaar in Uruzgan province’s capital of Tarin Kot killed seven civilians – six of them children – and wounded many others, International Security Assistance Force officials reported.

Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, ISAF commander, issued a statement condemning the attack.

"On behalf of every member of ISAF, I'd like to extend our most sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of today's attack," Allen said. "This was a brutal and repugnant act perpetrated by terrorists, and another tragic instance of their blatant disregard for innocent Afghan life as they indiscriminately use violence to intimidate the Afghan people to achieve their own aims.

“Throughout Afghanistan,” he continued, “such violent acts are only sowing greater resentment among the Afghan people, who are bravely and courageously working to build a more hopeful and peaceful Afghanistan."