Daily Security Brief: July 13, 2011

BADAKHSHAN: A Taliban group leader was among three fighters killed during a clash with police in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, officials said on Wednesday. The slain Taliban leader was identified as Amanuddin.

Two policemen were injured during the clash that broke out in Wardaj district on Tuesday, according to Col. Hussain Safdari, the deputy provincial police chief.

A heroin processing lab was also seized during the operation, according to Safdari.

The operation also involved Afghan National Army and National Directorate of Security personnel, an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the fighters killed nine policemen, including an officer, during the clash. He denied casualties suffered by the fighters.

— Gul Mohammad Tanha

BAGHLAN: The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF.

The statement said the arrests resulted from a joint operation between Afghan and coalition forces. However, the provincial police spokesman, Javed Basharat, said that Afghan security forces were not involved.

A provincial council member, Qari Qudrat, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the detained individuals are civilians with no ties to insurgents. He identified the individuals as two teachers and six students.

— Hasseb Rahman Sherzai 

BAMYAN: Police arrested two alleged Taliban spies during a raid on a house in the Sah Shanbah area of northwestern Bamyan province , deputy police chief, Col. Mohammad Ibrahim, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The detainees were identified as Fida Mohammad and Ghulam Mohammad, residents of Sayad district of northern Sar-i-Pul province. Ibrahim said the men had Taliban propaganda on them when they were arrested.

— Tamkin

KABUL: The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced the deaths of eight service members Wednesday, while Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence said 22 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and 38 insurgents have been killed in the past week.

Five ISAF service members died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan today, and one ISAF soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan, according to statements issued by ISAF.

Also, ISAF said two soldiers died in a clash with insurgents on July 9 in southeastern Afghanistan, and a third succumbed to injuries the following day.

It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.

The Ministry of Defence announced Wednesday that more than 38 insurgents have been killed and another 190 detained across the country over the past week.

The 38 insurgents were killed during face-to-face clashes with Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers over the  course of the week, said the ministry spokesman, Ma. Gen. Zahir Azimi, at a weekly press conference in Kabul. The detainees included some foreigners and high profile Taliban figures, he said.

Security forces also seized 33 different kinds of weapon, 142 kilograms of drugs, 30 kg of explosives, three vehicles, and 50 roadside mines over the period, Azimi said. The week saw 22 ANA soldiers killed and 55 others injured, the spokesman said.

During the period, 93 offensive operations, 19 search and 1,882 patrols were conducted across the country, he said.

Azimi said the ministry was emphasizing building the capacity of Afghan forces, saying the troops were becoming more capable with the passage of time.

— Mohammad Hassan Khetab

NANGARHAR:  On Wednesday, foreign troops detained 10 individuals suspected of having links to the Taliban, Afghan forces confiscated a weapons cache and began a clearing operation, and insurgents targeted border police in a roadside bombing.

One policeman was killed and six others injured in a roadside bombing in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Wednesday, officials said.

The blast ripped through a border police vehicle around 12:30 pm in Lal Pur district, said the governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai. No one has so far claimed responsibility for that attack.

Earlier, foreign troops arrested 10 people suspected of having ties to the Taliban in Khewa district.

The arrests were made in the Bodyali area late early Wednesday morning during a search operation by foreign troops, said the governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai.

The detainees had links with the Taliban, he said, but provided no further details.

Khewa district chief, Ejaz Mohammad, said that American troops launched the operation in Bodyali area at 2:30 am and arrested 10 suspects.

And in the Najmul Jihad area of Nangahar, joint forces confiscated two suicide vests and light arms in a search operation.

Col. Neman Hatifi, the spokesman for 201st military corps in the eastern zone, said the operation was conducted by Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) forces. They seized two suicide vests, 4 Kalashnikovs, 12 pistols and some ammunition.

He said no one was arrested in the search operation.

Elsewhere, Col. Mohammad Hussain Baloch, the commander of the 3rd battalion of the 201st Military Corps, said their forces had started an operation in Lakar Khel and Hashim Khel areas of Shirzad district Tuesday night, to purge the areas of the Taliban.

— Abdul Mueed Hashmi

URUZGAN: Two people were killed and six others injured when a car crashed into another vehicle on the Kandahar-Tirinkot highway in central Uruzgan province, an official said on Wednesday.

The collision happened at the Tanbacha area. Two dead bodies and six injured were brought to the Uruzgan civil hospital, Mohammad Nabi Hashimi, the hospital head, told Pajhwok Afghan News. He said the injured are in a stable condition.

— Omid Khpalwak

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