Combined Force Detains 2 Insurgents

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2012 – An Afghan-coalition security force detained two insurgents during an operation to capture an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader in the Shirin Tagab district of Afghanistan’s Faryab province today, military officials reported.

The sought-after insurgent leader plans and conducts attacks against coalition troops throughout northern Afghanistan, officials said. He also is linked to an attack plot against a senior Afghan official.

Insurgents engaged the security force with small-arms fire. The force returned fire, killing the insurgents. The force destroyed a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with several rockets, several assault rifles and some grenades.

In other Afghanistan operations today:

-- In the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province, a combined patrol detained a suspect while searching for a Taliban leader who directs roadside-bomb attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- A combined force in the Zurmat district of Paktia province captured a Taliban facilitator who prepared suicide bombers to attack Afghan and coalition security forces.

In other news, a combined force found about 4,500 pounds of ammonium nitrate for use in improvised explosive devices in the Marjah district of Helmand province yesterday.

In a March 24 operation, a combined force found five IEDs in an abandoned compound in the Musa Qalah district of Helmand province. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the bombs. The same day, a combined force acting on tips from local civilians found and destroyed six IEDs in the Dilah wa Khoshamand district of Paktika province.