Tip Leads Afghan Soldiers to Enemy Weapons

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

Aug. 3, 2010 - A tip from local residents led Afghan soldiers working with coalition partners to several enemy weapons stockpiles in Afghanistan's Heart province yesterday, military officials reported.

The Afghan-led force received the tip while conducting a presence patrol in the province's Shindand district.

The force's explosive ordnance disposal team disabled and destroyed nine 155 mm artillery rounds, a 50-pound shape charge, 18 rocket-propelled grenades, 221 hand grenades, 75 anti-aircraft rounds and 12 anti-personnel mines, as well as other miscellaneous ordnance.

Coalition officials said the discovery is a step forward in the growing cooperation and partnerships between Afghan security forces and the country's people.

In other news from Afghanistan:

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected Taliban insurgents in Kandahar last night while in pursuit of a major Taliban facilitator involved in the transportation of narcotics and munitions, including suicide-bomb materials, between Iran and southern Afghanistan.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained three suspected insurgents in Helmand province's Lashkar Gah district last night, including a Taliban subcommander who facilitated weapons and logistics for Taliban fighters operating in the district. The assault force found an assault rifle, a pistol and more than $8,200 in Pakistani rupees at the scene.

-- In Zabul province's Shah Joy district last night, an Afghan and coalition security force detained a suspected insurgent during a continued search for the district's Taliban deputy commander.

-- A combined security force destroyed a booby-trapped house and killed several insurgents in Kandahar province in a clearing operation that began yesterday. The operation is aimed at disrupting the Taliban's freedom of movement in the province's Zharay district, officials said. After clearing a compound to ensure no civilians were present, coalition forces called in a precision air strike to destroy a house that was rigged with explosives. Insurgents engaged the security force with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire throughout the night. The air weapons team and ground force suppressed the enemy, resulting in several insurgents killed. A precision air strike killed several more insurgents as they engaged Afghan and coalition forces with a large-caliber machine gun. The security force found a recoilless rifle mounted on a tripod, a machine gun and multiple rounds, along with bomb-making materials, as well as two enemy bunkers containing homemade explosives.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected insurgents in Kunduz province's Chahar Darah district last night during a clearing operation aimed at disrupting the Taliban's freedom of movement in the district.

The ground forces fired no shots and protected women and children who were present during the operations, officials said.

Meanwhile, insurgent bombing attacks continued to kill or injure Afghan civilians. Four people were killed and three were wounded in Faryab province yesterday when they struck a roadside bomb as they were trying to come to the aid of border police who had come under enemy attack.

Seven Afghan civilians were wounded yesterday when a vehicle-borne bomb struck their convoy in Nangahar province's Behsud district. The convoy included Afghan President Hamid Karzai's tribal affairs advisor and another advisor.

International Security Assistance Force officials said more than 400 civilians have been killed and 860 have been wounded this year in insurgent bomb attacks.