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Kevin Bell, ISAF Joint Command PAO
KABUL- An Afghan-international security force killed the senior Taliban commander in northern Logar province last night.
Intelligence sources tracked Ghulam Sakhi to a compound near the village of Qal-eh Saber, Pul-e 'Alam district, where the combined force went to apprehend him.
Afghan forces used a loudspeaker and called for women and children to exit the building. As they were exiting, Sakhi came out with the group disguised in women's attire and pulled out a pistol and a grenade and shot at the security force. When Afghan and coalition forces shot him he dropped the grenade and it detonated wounding a woman and two children. The assault force immediately evacuated the wounded for medical care.
Sakhi, who is known by several aliases, was involved in improvised explosive device attacks, ambushes and indirect fire attacks throughout the province. He also kidnapped and killed a National Directorate of Security chief in Logar province.
After securing the compound the assault force detained several suspected insurgents for questioning.
Afghan and coalition forces realize women and children present during these offensive operations are often innocent bystanders to the insurgent activities taking place inside their homes. The security force goes to great lengths to respect Afghan customs and protect them throughout their searches.
An Afghan-international security force killed several insurgents with a precision airstrike in Zabul province last night in continuing operations aimed at dismantling IED cells operating in the Mizan and Tarnak Wa Jaldak districts.
The cells are directly responsible for multiple IED attacks along Highway 1, also known as ring road, resulting in the death or injury of Afghan civilians and Afghan and international forces.
The combined security force verified insurgent activity, and after careful planning in order to avoid civilian casualties and mitigate collateral damage, called in the airstrike on the insurgents in the remote area outside the village of Mianehshakh in Tarnak Wa Jaldak district.
After the air strike the combined security force went to the area and found IED materials including multiple blasting caps and an IED initiator, multiple automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades and launchers. The weapons were destroyed at the scene.
According to a recently released U.N. report, there was a 94 percent increase in IED attacks in the first four months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
"These incidents highlight the insurgents for what they really are. They use cowardly tactics to protect themselves, and to attack Afghan civilians and Afghan and international forces. Their indiscriminate use of IEDs means that nearly one third of all casualties caused by the devices are innocent civilians," said Col. William Maxwell, ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director.
"With each insurgent Afghan and international forces capture we are one step closer to making Afghanistan safer for its people," added Maxwell.
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2010 02:36 |
| Story ID: | 52010 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 283 |
| Downloads: | 213 |
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