Afghan Villagers Repel Taliban Attack

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

July 13, 2010 - Numerous Taliban fighters and an Afghan civilian were killed today when insurgents made an unsuccessful attack on the village of Aalai Shahea in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, military officials reported.

Early this morning, insurgents moved from the Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province to Ghazni province and attacked the village, which mainly is populated by Afghan security forces and their families.

After initial attempts to penetrate the village, Taliban fighters were met with effective resistance by residents, and the insurgents fled, officials said.

In other news from Afghanistan:

-- Afghan border police seized more than 100,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate yesterday in Paktia province's Dand-Patan district after stopping a 12-truck convoy that was carrying the banned fertilizer, which can be used to make bombs. The convoy was stopped at a border police checkpoint, where ISAF forces tested the fertilizer. Ten of the trucks carried legal fertilizer, but two contained ammonium nitrate. A third truck, also containing ammonium nitrate, was stopped a short time later. More than 900 bags of illegal fertilizer were found in the three trucks, and the vehicle drivers were detained for questioning. ISAF experts said the seized ammonium nitrate could have been used to make more than 2,100 roadside bombs.

-- Afghan-international forces detained a large number of suspected insurgents, including a Haqqani terrorist network facilitator, during separate clearing operations in Paktia province last night. One security force was pursuing a Taliban subcommander responsible for bombing attacks. After the targeted compounds were secured, the combined force detained several suspected insurgents for further questioning. Meanwhile, a separate combined force in the province's Zurmat district detained a number of suspected insurgents, including a Haqqani facilitator.

-- In Kapisa province's Tagab district last night, a combined Afghan-international force detained two suspected insurgents while pursuing a Taliban commander responsible for bombing and ambush attacks against coalition forces.

-- A combined Afghan and ISAF patrol found eight roadside bombs planted near an old school in Kandahar province's Zharay district yesterday.