Daily Security Brief: March 3, 2012

KABUL: Six insurgents were killed and some weapons and drugs seized during joint operations in different provinces over the past 24 hours, defence and interior ministries said on Saturday.

Another four suspected militants were detained during operations conducted by Afghan and NATO-led troops in Nangarhar, Khost, Laghman, Kandahar, Helmand and Badghis provinces.

In a statement, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said six rebels were killed and two rocket launchers, one machine gun, a mortar shell, five anti-vehicle mines, four hand-grenades, 69 kilograms of drugs and two vehicles were seized.

Additionally, security personnel seized two anti-vehicle mines and as many mortar shells in southern Helmand and southeastern Khost provinces.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said in a separate statement that one artillery, two rocket launchers and some explosives were confiscated in southern Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces.

–Pajhwok report

mrh/ma/mud

KABUL: Seven Afghan National Army (ANA) have been wounded in separate incidents in different parts of the country, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

Five of the soldiers were injured during an operation in the Dilaram district of southwestern Nimroz province. Two others were wounded in the Maqur district of northwestern Badghis province.

However, the ministry did not provide details about the nature of the incidents. Seven bombs were discovered in Zherai and Shah Walikot districts of southern Kandahar province.

–Khwaja Basir Ahmad

Myn/mud

KANDAHAR: A militant was killed in an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) airstrike while three others were detained during an operation in the Khakrez district of southern Kandahar province, an official said on Saturday.

The incidents happened in the Siyah Sang area of the district late on Friday night, Zalmay Ayubi, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News. ISAF helicopters struck the militants planting bombs the on Khakrez-Kandahar road, he added.

“Three of the injured insurgents tried to hide in a nearby village but were arrested by Afghan forces,” Ayubi said, adding 80 kilograms of explosives were also recovered from their possession.   

–Bashir Ahmad Naadem

Mas/mud

NANGARHAR: Four members of a family were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in eastern Nangarhar province on Saturday, officials said.

A civilian car struck the roadside bomb in the Mimla area of Khogyani district, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A public order police officer, his uncle and two brothers died as a result the bombing, said the Khogyani district chief, Haji Syed Rahman.

He accused militants of planting the landmine near the house of the victims. But no one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

–Abdul Mueed Hashami

Mrh/myn/mud

NANGARHAR: Officials in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Saturday said Afghan intelligence operatives had seized 9,000 kilograms of explosives on the Jalalabad-Torkham highway.

The seizure came during an operation, which is being conducted in all districts and Jalalabad, the provincial capital, the governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Acting on a tip-off, intelligence agents recovered the explosives from a truck and a detained a man with 10 pistols on the highway. An investigation into the incident was underway, he said.

–Abdul Mueed Hashimi

frm/mud

NIMROZ: Two men were sentenced to 20 years in jail on charges of killing five members of a family in southwestern Nimroz province, an official said on Saturday.

Haji Zahir and Abdur Rahman were convicted during an open trial by a primary court in Zaranj, the provincial capital, the judicial panel head, Abdul Ali Baloch, told Pajhwok Afghan News. Under the relevant law, the accused could move the appellate court against the primary court’s decision. 

Shopkeeper Niaz Mohammad, his wife and three children were killed after the individuals had entered their house for a robbery, Attorney Gulzad alleged. Although the victims had offered 4 million Iranian tomans to robbers to spare their lives, the accused had rejected the offer.

“Only a four-year-old child survived the incident after he got refugee under a vehicle,” he said.     

However, the accused dismissed the claims as baseless, saying they had personal enmity with the family. They intend to move the appellate court against the verdict.

–Ramin

mm/ma/mud

Visits: 0