Afghan National Police (ANP) and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) captured two insurgents connected with the Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device attack which killed two U.S. Soldiers in Khowst district on 10 February.

During the operation in the Tirzaye District, the combined force searched the compound revealing one set of U.S. uniforms, night vision equipment, a mobile phone, rifle, pistol and two bags containing documents.

“The ANP and ISAF elements had cordoned off the area and the insurgents were asked to surrender, which they did,” said U.S. Army Maj. Patrick Seiber, in Khowst Province. “There were no shots fired.”

Four women and five children were present and unharmed during the operation.

ISAF

International Security Assistance Forces killed several militants after a mounted patrol was attacked in Khowst province yesterday [January 21 2009].

ISAF forces were attacked by a large number of insurgents. The ISAF patrol fired back in response and called in attack helicopters and close-air support.

Upon positive identification of insurgent forces, the close-air support engaged the enemy. Helicopters fired multiple munitions killing the remaining insurgents from the initial attack.

ISAF servicemembers from a nearby operating base assessed the scene confirming a total of 22 insurgents killed in the remote area. There were no civilians in the area and no damage to structures in the vicinity.

ISAF

Afghan army commandos and their coalition partners killed four militants while simultaneously protecting nearly 90 civilians in an early morning operation today in western Afghanistan, military officials reported.

The combined forces were conducting a raid on a compound, targeting a Taliban commander in Farah province’s Dowlatabad village when they received fire from several enemy fighting positions. The combined forces quickly returned fire and also established a security perimeter to protect the civilians, who included 30 children, officials said.

The exchange of fire resulted in the deaths of four enemy fighters who local residents confirmed were Taliban militants.

During the search for more militants, commandos discovered a fully operational explosive device in a local mosque. Commandos removed the bomb and destroyed it. The detonation caused minor damage to the mosque’s exterior wall, for which the commandos provided compensation to village elders. The operation also uncovered numerous small arms weapons and bomb-making materials.

No Afghan, coalition or civilian casualties resulted from the operation, officials said.

In other news from Afghanistan, Afghan and coalition forces killed 10 militants near Highway 1 in the Nahr Surkh district of Helmand province yesterday. The forces were conducting a security patrol when they were attacked by militants with small-arms and machine-gun fire. They returned fire, killing the 10 militants.

During the engagement, an Afghan soldier was shot in the back. He was treated on site and transported to a nearby Coalition medical facility. No other Afghan or coalition forces or civilians were injured during the engagement, officials said.

Also yesterday, Afghan and coalition forces killed four armed militants and detained eight others yesterday during an operation in Kapisa province in which an Afghan woman and child were injured when the insurgents used them as human shields, officials said.

In the Tagab district, coalition forces provided medical care to the Afghan woman and child, whom the forces believe lived with the militants. The two were injured when one of the militants detonated a hand grenade. They are recovering at a military hospital, officials said.

The operation targeted the Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin terrorist network, which is known to plan and coordinate attacks against civilians and coalition forces, including an attack in August that killed 10 French soldiers, officials said.

As the force attempted to search the compound, they received a large volume of small-arms fire and hand grenades from militants barricaded in a section of the compound. Coalition forces responded with small-arms fire and killed them.

A search of the compound revealed multiple AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and other military equipment, which were destroyed to prevent future use. The force detained three suspected militants as a result of the operation.

In Khowst province, Afghan and coalition forces captured a targeted Haqqani terrorist network operative and five other suspects during a combined operation in the Mandozai district. The wanted man is a suspect in roadside and suicide bombings, officials said. Troops searched the compound without incident.

DVIDS

Afghan National Security Forces fought off several insurgents in the Bak district of Khowst province August 20.

The insurgents attacked a group of construction workers. Citizens from a nearby village notified the district centre, and ANSF responded to the site and engaged the militants.

And ISAF ground element responded to assist the ANSF, and U.S. forces sent attack helicopters. More than a dozen insurgents died during the fighting.

This incident is still under investigation.

ISAF

Seven insurgents, six of which were suicide bombers, are dead after an unsuccessful second attack on a U.S. base in Khowst Province on August 19. Forces from the base interdicted the insurgent attack approximately 1,000 meters outside of the base perimeter.

ISAF forces on the base had before identified a group of insurgents posturing to attack the base and engaged them with small arms fire. Helicopters arrived on station soon after and engaged these insurgents as they attempted to flee from the scene.

Three of the insurgents killed themselves by detonating their suicide vests. ISAF forces killed three other suicide bombers before they could detonate their vests. There were no ISAF casualties in the attack.

Today’s attack follows multiple attempted vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacks on the base yesterday, where insurgents detonated a car, prepared with explosives, outside the perimeter of the base, killing 10 Afghans and wounding another 13.

Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) identified and stopped a second VBIED just outside the base and performed a controlled detonation on it, preventing additional casualties.

A suspect alleged to be the driver of the second VBIED from yesterday’s failed attack on the base was detained by ANSF in Khowst.

ISAF wishes to praise the brave and professional actions by the ANSF in helping to deter these attacks.

ISAF