Daily Security Brief: July 24, 2011

HELMAND: Five Taliban militants were killed during separate coalition operations forces in the Garishk and Sangin districts of southwestern Helmand province, an official said on Sunday.

Davud Ahmadi, the governor’s spokesman, said the operation took place last night and targeted a house in the Khumari area of the Sangin district.

He added that three sons of the house’s owner, Muhammad Hashim, were killed and three others detained during the operation. They included Mulla Faizani, Faruqi and Mulla Abdul Satar, all of whom were considered prominent Taliban fighters.

Elsewhere in the province, a Taliban leader named Jahangir and his friend were killed last night in a coalition operation on a Taliban sanctuary in Kala Kaz area of Sangeen district. Ahmadi said that Afghan and international forces had suffered no causalities during operations.

The Taliban have not yet commented on the incidents.

–Zainullah Stanikzai

PAKTIA: One member of the local police force was killed and three others wounded on Sunday morning when their vehicle stuck a roadside bomb in the Chinargi area of the Chamkani district in southeastern Paktia province, deputy governor Abdul Rahman Mangal told Pajhwok Afghan News. In a separate incident elsewhere in Paktia, unidentified gunmen kidnapped an education student at Paktia University late Saturday.

Haji Mamoor, a local resident, said the blast occurred near his village, wounding four local policemen, but he did not know if there had been fatalities. 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the fighters targeted the police vehicle, killing Gul Noor, a local police commander, and injuring four others.

Provincial police chief Abdul Ghafar Sapai told Pajhwok Afghan News that motorcyclists abducted the student when he was on his way to study with friends behind some high rise buildings near the university. He said police had launched an investigation.

The student may have been kidnapped for ransom, according to Sepai. Ezatullah, a sophomore in the student’s department who witnessed the kidnapping, said his name was Sardar and that he is a resident of the Tanai district of Khost Province. He said Sardar’s father is in charge of the Khost prison.

He added that two motorcyclists and three other people in a white Corolla approached them and took Sardar away with them. No one has so far claimed responsibility. This is the first time a university student has been abducted in Paktia, and the incident has sparked safety concerns among students.

–Daud Tapan

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