Officials Provide Details of Afghanistan Operations

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

Aug. 9, 2010 - International Security Assistance Force Joint Command officials have provided details on numerous recent operations throughout Afghanistan.

In Baghlan province:

–— Afghan soldiers, assisted by U.S. special operations forces, found and destroyed a weapons cache Aug. 4 in the village of Bagh-e Shormal. The Afghan-led force received information from local residents on the location of a weapons cache belonging to an ambush cell leader. After securing the area, the partnered force recovered two rocket-propelled grenade launchers with high-explosive and armor-piercing grenades, more than 150 rounds of ammunition, an assault rifle and six articles of U.S. Army-issued clothing. The cache was destroyed in place.

In Farah province:

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected insurgents during a two-day joint operation aimed at disrupting the insurgency network in the province's Bala Boluk district. The security force also found a cache consisting of 10 107 mm rockets and bomb-making components.

In Helmand province:

-- ISAF confirmed the capture of the Taliban district commander in charge of Garm Ser district of Helmand province during a combined Afghan and coalition force operation Aug. 5.

-- Afghan and coalition forces uncovered a large stockpile of weapons and communications equipment during a combined operation Aug. 7. While investigating the weapons find, the force was engaged by insurgents with small- arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire. ISAF forces requested close-air support, which was provided by an air weapons team and a U.S. Air Force A-10. Fourteen insurgents were killed and no civilians were hurt in the operation. The weapons discovered at the scene included recoilless rifles, 82 mm mortar rounds, an RPG, an anti-personnel mine, complete roadside bombs and bomb-making material, communications radios and repeaters.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force continued its pursuit of a Taliban district commander in charge of Nawah-ye Barakzai district, detaining two suspected insurgents during an Aug. 6 operation. The security force targeted a compound in the remote Marja district in pursuit of the commander, who recently returned from Pakistan. As the assault force approached the compound, two men tried to escape, but the security force captured them peacefully.

In Kabul province:

–- Afghan police and coalition forces located and destroyed two rockets that were poised for an attack on the Afghan capital of Kabul today. The rockets were taken to a controlled-impact zone for destruction.

-- ISAF soldiers provided supplies to victims of flooding in the Musahi district today. Regional Command Capital soldiers delivered 2,000 meals, 250 dining kits, 200 blankets, 150 pairs of boots and 150 raincoats. ISAF also provided the services of a physician.

In Kandahar province:

-- Coalition forces conducted a precision air strike yesterday targeting a Taliban facilitator who equipped Taliban fighters for i attacks against Afghan civilians and Afghan and coalition forces in Kandahar City. After verifying insurgent activity and careful planning to avoid civilian casualties and to mitigate collateral damage, coalition forces called in the precision air strike on a remote area outside the provincial capital. Initial reports indicate several insurgents were killed in the strike.

-- ISAF officials confirmed the Aug. 6 capture of a senior Taliban commander operating in the Charbaugh area of Arghandab district during an Afghan-led operation. The commander conducted bombing attacks and intimidation campaigns against Afghan civilians.

-- Two men were detained in Kandahar City today when they tried to pass through a checkpoint without identification by trying to bribe Afghan national civil order police, who refused the offer and detained them.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected Taliban insurgents Aug. 7 while in pursuit of a Taliban facilitator who provides weapons and bomb-making materials to operatives in Kandahar City and Arghandab district.

-- Afghan and coalition security forces returned to the area north of Diwar in Zharay district over the weekend to continue clearing operations aimed at disrupting Taliban movement in the area known as a staging area for attacks in Kandahar City. The latest operation resulted in several insurgents killed and the destruction of a tunnel system, several homemade bombs, two 82 mm mortar systems and large-caliber machine guns. The insurgents engaged the security force with rocket-propelled grenades, bombs and small-arms fire throughout the operation. An air weapons team and ground forces suppressed the enemy, resulting in several insurgents killed. Additionally, precision air strikes destroyed dozens of pressure-plate and command-wire bombs. The assault force also found and destroyed multiple RPGs, automatic weapons, chest racks, mortars, hand grenades and bomb-making material. During the last operation, the assault force found and destroyed a house booby-trapped with explosives, three trip wires attached to roadside bombs, a large-caliber machine gun, a recoilless rifle mounted on a tripod, a machine gun and multiple rounds, along with bomb components. They also discovered and cleared two enemy bunkers containing homemade explosives. Several insurgents died in that operation.

-- Afghan army commandos working with U.S. Special Forces came under attack Aug. 4 while conducting a security patrol to disrupt insurgents. The Afghan-led force went to a series of compounds in the Zheray district after intelligence confirmed militant activity. As the partnered force neared the first set of compounds, they came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire from multiple enemy positions, one of which was a mosque being used as insurgent headquarters. A Special Forces commander said more than 12 insurgents were killed.

In Khost province:

-- ISAF officials confirmed the capture of a Haqqani terrorist network roadside-bomb cell leader during an Afghan-led security operation in Khost district Aug. 6.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected Haqqani network insurgents yesterday, including a facilitator who provided weapons and bomb components for attacks against Afghan civilians and Afghan and coalition forces.

-- ISAF officials confirmed the capture of a Haqqani bombing-attack cell leader in Khost district during an Afghan-led operation Aug. 6, and the Aug. 4 capture in Terayzai district of a Haqqani facilitator responsible for distributing weapons and bomb components to foreign fighters and Haqqani-affiliated networks.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected Haqqani insurgents in Khost district the night of Aug. 6 while in pursuit of a bombing-cell leader.

In Kunar province:

-- Afghan civilians in the Uzbeen valley turned in more than 400 pieces of ammunition to coalition forces Aug. 4-6. The civilians told officials from Task Force Lafayette where the insurgent cache was hidden, and volunteered to bring the munitions to the Task Force soldiers.

In Logar province:

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained two suspected Taliban insurgents in Mirwal in Pul-e Alam district the night of Aug. 7, including a Taliban senior commander who planned and conducted attacks against Afghan government officials and Afghan and coalition forces.

-- ISAF confirmed the capture of a Taliban bomb and weapons facilitator during an Aug. 4 Afghan-led security force operation.

In Paktia province:

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected Taliban insurgents in Zurmat district Aug. 7 while in pursuit of a Taliban suicide-bomber facilitator responsible for the movement of weapons and ammunition.

-- In the Gardez district Aug. 7, an Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected Haqqani insurgents while in pursuit of a Haqqani facilitator who also acts as a senior-level interrogator of the network's prisoners.

In Paktika province:

-- ISAF officials confirmed the death of Shahin, a Taliban commander responsible for ordering attacks against Afghan and coalition forces operating in the Maka Khan and Sharana area, during a combined security force operation July 20. Shahin was among several insurgents killed during the operation, which was conducted at a series of compounds near Zardad in Sharan district.

In Uruzgan province:

-- Afghan and coalition forces came under sustained small-arms fire during a presence patrol in Aug. 7, resulting in a number of insurgents being killed. As the Afghan-led force neared Yahkdan village to meet with village elders and assess suspected insurgent activity in the area, the insurgents began shooting at the combined force from multiple firing positions in the direction of the village. The partnered force returned fire, and close-air support was used during the engagement to drop precision-guided munitions on the insurgent firing positions.

In Zabul province:

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected insurgents in the Shah Joy district yesterday while in pursuit of a Taliban commander who leads bombing and small-arms attacks against Afghan civilians, as well as Afghan and coalition forces. While searching the area, the combined force found and detained several men who were hiding in a ditch.

In other news from Afghanistan, ISAF Joint Command officials reported several incidents in which enemy actions targeted political leaders or killed or injured Afghan civilians:

-- A roadside bomb detonated when a convoy was returning from escorting Gov. Mohammad Omar to the provincial capital in Kunduz province Aug. 7.

-- Five Afghans were injured as a result of a vehicle-borne bombing attack in Herat province yesterday. ISAF medical personnel provided first aid to the injured Afghans and transported them to an ISAF medical facility. The blast ignited a nearby fuel tanker, but Afghan and coalition forces' firefighters extinguished the fire.

-- An Afghan child was killed and another child was wounded when insurgents attacked a coalition outpost in Kunar province's Watahpur district yesterday.

-- Three Afghan civilians were wounded by an insurgent bombing attack in Ghazni province yesterday.

-- An insurgent bombing attack on Afghan and coalition forces killed two civilians and wounded five more in Helmand province Aug. 7. The forces were returning to a forward operating base after conducting operations in the area.

-- A child died of wounds suffered in an Aug. 7 roadside-bomb blast in Kandahar province. Another child was seriously wounded in the attack in the province's Maiwand district.

-- A civilian was killed and five others were wounded in an Aug. 7 bombing attack in Helmand's Nahr-e Saraj district. ISAF forces treated the wounded at a coalition facility.

-- An Afghan civilian was killed and another was wounded outside a coalition outpost when insurgents attacked the outpost with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire in Kunar's Watahpur district Aug. 7. ISAF forces treated the wounded civilian at the outpost.

-- In Uruzgan's Deh Rawud district Aug. 7, an Afghan civilian was killed in an insurgent bomb explosion.

-- An Afghan civilian was wounded in an insurgent bomb detonation in Balkh province's Mazar-e Sharif district.

ISAF officials said more than 30 civilians have been killed and more than 40 others have been wounded by insurgents so far this month.