An Afghan-international security force killed a group of enemy militants and detained two suspected militants today in eastern Paktika province while pursuing a Haqqani commander with ties to the local Haqqani leadership and who was responsible for several attacks in the area.

The joint task force targeted the buildings in the hills of Sarobi district after intelligence indicated militant activity.

During the assault on one building, the joint force received enemy fire and returned fire. Following no response from calls to exit the building, the joint force cleared the building. During the operation, a group of militants was killed in and outside the building.

A security element of the joint force searched the enemy positions and recovered blasting caps, IED-making materials, a number of RPGs, AK-47 rifles, chest racks and communications equipment.

Afghan-International Security Force Interdicts Militant in Wardak

A separate Afghan-international security force killed an enemy militant in Wardak province today while pursuing a Taliban commander and facilitator responsible for planning and executing several attacks in the area.

The joint security force targeted compounds near the village of Tokarak in Nerkh district after intelligence indicated militant activity.

During the operation, the joint force received hostile fire and returned fire, killing one enemy militant. A security element of the joint force searched the enemy position and recovered an AK-47 rifle, multiple hand grenades, and AK-47 magazines. The joint force searched the compounds without further incident.

Afghan-International Security Forces Detain Militants in Kandahar and Kunduz

In an operation in Kandahar province today, an Afghan-international security force detained more than a dozen suspected militants while pursuing a Taliban commander operating in the area who is linked to the local Taliban shadow governor.

The joint security force targeted compounds in a remote stretch of the Daman district after intelligence indicated militant activity. Security elements from the joint force pursued individuals seen departing from one of the compounds and detained several suspected militants.

The joint force searched the compounds without incident, recovered one artillery round and detained the other suspected militants. The artillery round was destroyed at a safe distance from the compounds.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

In a separate operation, an Afghan-international security force detained two suspected militants in Kunduz province while pursuing a deputy to an area Taliban shadow governor. The joint security force targeted a compound near the village of Chem Tappeh in Kunduz district after intelligence indicated militant activity. The joint force searched the compound without incident.

No civilians were harmed during the operations in Paktika, Wardak, Kunduz or Kandahar provinces.

ISAF Casualties
No ISAF service members were killed during the past 24 hours.

ISAF

Be sure to read the second part of this story, from Reuters.

Afghan-international security forces conducted clearing operations Nov. 1 through 6 in the Chahar Dara district of the northern region of Kunduz province, killing more than 130 insurgents including eight Taliban commanders.

More than 750 Afghan and International forces took part in the operation to stop insurgent activity and weapons trafficking in the Chahar Dara district. The team also disrupted the insurgent shadow governor in Kunduz province.

The Afghan-International force provided humanitarian supplies to the affected villages after the operation. Six trucks delivered warm clothing and food, including staple items such as cooking oil, rice and beans. For photos showing Afghan soldiers handing supplies to local villages, go here.

Gov. Mohammad Omar of Kunduz province praised the accuracy of ISAF airstrikes against the insurgents and the caution used to employ them in areas void of civilian population or infrastructure.

“It is the largest operation I’ve ever seen in Kunduz,” the governor said. “You’ve got the Taliban running all over the place. Overall, I think this operation is wonderful.”

The military elements will continue to meet with village elders and ensure the area remains secure following the conclusion of the combat operations.

“People of Kunduz are very appreciative that international forces and Afghan National Security Forces are working together to better Afghanistan,” Governor Omar said. “Taliban in the area are on the run, and we have shown them that they cannot control the area.”

No ANSF or ISAF personnel were killed, and no civilians were injured during this operation.

ISAF

Kunduz province is mainly patrolled by the NATO force’s German contingent, which has failed to prevent Taliban fighters from taking control of many rural villages in recent months.

Its Char Dara district was the site of the deadliest incident involving German troops since World War Two. In early September, a German officer ordered a U.S. air strike that the Afghan government says killed 30 civilians as well as 69 fighters.

Germany acknowledged this week for the first time that civilians were killed in that strike and not all procedures were followed correctly, but says an air strike was nonetheless needed to prevent a suicide attack by fighters in stolen fuel trucks.

Reuters

The Afghan national army and Afghan national police, assisted by Coalition forces, conducted a cordon and search in the Arghandab District, Oct. 30, to search for a weapons cache and known insurgent leadership. The operation led to the detainment of four insurgents and several others being killed.

The intent of the operation was to decrease roadside bomb usage along the major highway going into Qalat City in Deh Chopan. The insurgents removed from the district were associated with placing several roadside bombs that were responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians.

The ANA and Arghandab ANP will continue to patrol this area and conduct operations to remove insurgents and halt the emplacement of roadside bombs.

No civilians were injured during this operation.

DVIDS

Afghan and NATO forces have removed dozens of insurgents from fighting in Afghanistan in recent days, including a long-sought-after Taliban commander, military officials reported.

Combined Afghan and International Security Assistance Force units killed at least two dozen insurgents during fighting in southern and eastern Afghanistan and detained numerous others. In operations yesterday (October 25 2009):

– A combined force killed a dozen enemy militants in Kandahar province in an operation to interdict a Taliban commander and his unit believed to be responsible for attacks in the Arghandab district west of Kandahar City. The force coordinated an air strike on the enemy position. During the search, several of the dead were discovered armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition belts and communications gear. All items were destroyed in place.

– A combined force killed several militants and detained several suspects in Khowst province after searching compounds in pursuit of a Haqqani terrorist organization leader linked to a bomb-making and foreign-fighter facilitation network in the area. The force searched two compounds north of Khowst City. Militants outside of one of the compounds posed a hostile threat to the combined force and were killed. During the search, the joint security force discovered multiple hand grenades and assault rifles.

- Combined forces killed several militants in Ghazni province after searching an enemy position in pursuit of a district Taliban commander linked to several other militant commanders and foreign fighters in the area. The force received hostile fire during the operation from an enemy position. Returning fire, they killed several militants. The force then searched the enemy location and found multiple rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and ammunition belts. All items were destroyed in place.

- In Wardak province, a combined force detained two suspects after searching a compound known to be used by a Taliban commander. The joint force searched compounds southwest of Kabul without incident and without firing shots.

- A combined force detained suspected militants after searching compounds in Khowst province known to be used by a Haqqani bomb technician linked to several militant commanders in the area. The force searched the compounds without incident.

In an Oct. 24 operation, a combined force searched a compound and detained several suspected militants believed to be members of a bombing network in Farah province. The suspects surrendered peacefully during the search and no shots were fired.

In operations Oct. 22:

- A combined force killed a dozen militants and detained several suspects in Kandahar province after stopping a number of vehicles in pursuit of a Taliban commander of the province’s Maywand district. The force initially targeted a number of vehicles in transit across southern Maywand after intelligence indicated militant activity. Several militants were killed after they failed to respond to warnings, and others were detained. Subsequently, the combined force received hostile fire from militants in multiple vehicles maneuvering in their direction. The force returned fire, killing another group of militants. The force searched each of the vehicles and recovered a number of small-arms weapons, documents and 2,600 pounds of black-tar heroin. The force identified one of the dead as the sought-after Taliban commander of Maywand.

– A combined force detained several suspected militants after searching compounds in Wardak province known to be used by a Taliban commander and his unit responsible for several rocket and bombing attacks in the region. The force targeted the compounds near the village of Patankhel in the Sayed Abad district after intelligence indicated militant activity there. The force searched the compound without incident and detained several suspects. No shots were fired, and no one was injured in the search.

In other news from Afghanistan, international forces have responded to accusations that a U.S. servicemember burned the Quran last week in Wardak province’s Maydan Shar district.

In response to the accusations, ISAF troops conducted an investigation in conjunction with local Afghan army commanders and found the claim groundless.

A spokesman for Wardak Gov. Mohammad Alim Fadayee, and Mullah Qari of the Afghan army in Wardak, publicly stated that ISAF troops were not responsible for the desecration and found no wrongdoing by international forces.

In his public address, Mullah Qari provided the results of the investigation into the incident and offered an explanation.

“Dear brothers, recently, the incident of burning of the Quran that happened in Kowte Ashrow, it was the actions of the enemies of Afghanistan and Islam for their private purposes,” Qari said. “The enemies of Afghanistan are trying to make people go against the government in order to start riots.”

DVIDS

ISAF reports 1 and 2

In Helmand province a joint security force detained a suspected militant commander and several suspected militants linked to the narcotics industry in Nahri Sarraj district, during an Oct. 11 operation.

Haji Khan Mohammed is considered a senior power broker in the district, and it is believed that his drug operations provided financial support to enemy fighters throughout southern Afghanistan.

During the operation joint security forces received machine gun fire from militants shooting from multiple compounds. The forces moved the fighting away from the compounds and detained the militants.

The joint force also found a weapons cache consisting of 40 rocket propelled grenades, two ammunition vests, several thousand machine gun rounds, several five-gallon jugs used in constructing homemade explosives for roadside bombs, three AK-47s and 20 mortar rounds. The cache was destroyed on site by controlled detonation. No joint force members were injured during the operation.

A joint security force killed several militants Oct. 11, during an operation in Qalat district, Zabul province in an effort to disrupt a Taliban element believed responsible for several attacks in the region.

During the operation the joint force received hostile fire and returned fire, killing several militants.

Also during the search the joint force found an RPG, an AK-47 rifle with ammunition rounds, a pistol, a grenade, an ammunition belt and communications gear. All items were destroyed in place.

In an operation conducted in Kandahar province today, a joint security force detained one suspected militant in a compound known to be used by a Taliban facilitator and his element responsible for supplying improvised explosive devices, weapons and ammunition to other militant groups in the region.

The search in a compound northwest of Kandahar City was conducted without incident. No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.

Today (October 12 2009) a joint security force killed more than a dozen militants and detained a suspected militant after searching a mountainside compound in Kunar province known to be used by an al-Qaida commander and his element believed responsible for the facilitation of foreign fighters and numerous attacks in Pech Valley.

During the search of the compound located near Tantil village, northeast of Jalalabad, the force received hostile enemy fire on two occasions and returned fire, killing the enemy militants. The joint force also found a number of rocket propelled grenades, machine guns, multiple AK-47 rifles and other grenades. All items were destroyed in place.

In another operation in Ziruk district, Paktika province a joint security force detained several suspected militants today after searching a compound known to be used by a Haqqani facilitator and his element believed to be responsible for financing and supplying weapons to other militants in the region.

The joint force also found several grenades and a cache of small arms ammunition. All items were destroyed on site.

In a third operation that marked one of the largest drug and weapons discoveries this year, a joint force found about 100 kilograms of heroin, 1,800 kilograms of opium, nearly 50 metric tons of opium seeds along with a morphine processing lab during a search in Kajaki district, Helmand province, Oct. 6.

The joint force killed multiple enemy fighters and detained several suspected militants.

The joint force, assisted by the Afghanistan Narcotics Interdiction Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, coordinated and conducted the search to disrupt Anti-Afghan forces and to set conditions for effective future security operations in central Helmand province.

The force also found a weapons cache that included: 35 RPGs, five hand grenades, one 82mm recoilless rifle, 600 links of 7.62mm ammunition, four sniper rifles, one RPG launcher, 15 blocks of C-4 explosives, two blocks of Semtex plastic explosives, 50 detonation cords, two landmines, one passive infrared initiator, 350 rounds of various ammunition and 35 tons of ammonium nitrate—a chemical used to make roadside bombs.

All drugs were destroyed on site, and weapons were either positioned for safe disposal or destroyed on location.

No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.