Afghan, Coalition Detain Insurgents, Seize Weapons

By Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 6, 2010 - Afghan and coalition forces detained several insurgents and seized a large weapons cache in Afghanistan yesterday in operations focused on dismantling terrorist groups' leadership, military officials said.

Afghan and International Security Assistance Force troops targeted two Taliban district commanders in charge of the Garm Ser and Nawah-ye Barakzai districts of Helmand province, and detained several suspected insurgents.

The first combined force targeted the Garm Ser district commander, who directs attacks against coalition forces, and provides weapons and supplies to Taliban fighters. The force searched a compound in Mohammad Rahim Kalay and, after questioning residents at the scene, detained several suspected insurgents.

A separate security force targeted a compound in the remote Marja district in pursuit of the Nawah-ye Barakzai district commander, who recently returned from Pakistan. As the assault force approached the compound, three men attempted to escape, but the security force was able to capture them peacefully. The force detained several suspected insurgents and found five pounds of wet opium at the scene.

In other operations yesterday in Afghanistan:

-- A combined force detained two suspected insurgents while in pursuit of a Taliban member involved in weapons trafficking and planting roadside bombs. The force detained the men after searching compounds in the Pul-e Alam district and questioning residents at the scene.

-- A combined force operating in the Ghazni district of Ghazni province located a cache of about 240 antitank rounds, 31 rocket-propelled grenade warheads, seven RPG rocket motors and two 107 mm rockets. The combined forced conducted a controlled explosion to destroy the cache.

-- Insurgents' bombs killed 12 Afghan civilians in two separate incidents in eastern provinces. In the first incident, three Afghan construction workers were killed and two were wounded when a bomb detonated in Ghazni's Qarabaugh district. Later, nine construction workers were killed by a remote-controlled bomb while working in Kunar's Bar Kunar district.

Also, a combined force killed four insurgents and destroyed narcotics and explosives during an Aug. 4 operation in Helmand's Sangin district of Helmand province. The team was searching for a key Taliban leader of a homemade bomb factory when they encountered the insurgents. Women and children were protected throughout the operation. Drugs, explosives and weapons were discovered and destroyed at the scene.