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WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2008 – 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.
(Compiled from U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)
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