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| U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter tours the tunnels that were once the hideout for notorious, and still at large, Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar which is now under the control of Firebase Maholic in Afghanistan, May 14, 2013. The tunnels and nearby Taliban stronghold was captured by U.S. forces in 2001. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Kills Taliban Leader in Kunduz Province
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 14, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed a mid-level Taliban leader in the Khanabad district of Afghanistan's Kunduz province today, military officials reported.
The deceased Taliban leader had been in charge of a group responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and he was involved in trafficking weapons and suicide vests, and had engaged in kidnapping and reconnaissance operations.
In other Afghanistan operations today:
-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Panjwai district arrested a Taliban leader responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He manages numerous weapons caches for Taliban insurgent cells. The security force also arrested two other insurgents.
-- In Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district, a combined force arrested a Taliban facilitator who is responsible for procuring and distributing weapons and equipment to insurgents in the province's Nad-e Ali and Nahr-e Saraj districts. The facilitator also leads a group responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also seized an assault rifle, two pistols, four magazines and ammunition.
In operations yesterday:
-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Maiwand district wounded an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who directs the movement of Taliban fighters, bomb-making materials, weapons, ammunition and supplies. He also has operational control of an insurgent group responsible for attacks against Afghan civilians and Afghan and coalition forces.
-- In Helmand province's Marjah district, a combined force arrested a senior Taliban leader who is in charge of at least seven separate Taliban insurgent groups responsible for attacks on Afghan and coalition forces. He is involved in all stages of operations, including procuring weapons and ammunition, planning attacks and executing those plans. He and the insurgents he controls also have been involved in kidnapping Afghan security force members.
-- Afghan special forces soldiers, enabled by coalition forces, killed an insurgent and wounded another after watching them plant a roadside bomb along a patrol route used by Afghan and coalition forces in Herat province's Shindand district. After the engagement, two other insurgents were killed by their own bomb as they were traveling back toward the location of the first one.
