NEWS FROM AFGHANSTAN FOR MARCH 20, 2013

 

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Claudia Caberoherbas, right, provides perimeter security outside a village where troops search for a weapons cache in the Spin Boldak district in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, March 3, 2013. Caberoherbas is assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division's Company B, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Striker Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shane Hamann

 

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Arrests Taliban Facilitator in Kandahar
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 20, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban facilitator in the city of Kandahar in Afghanistan's Kandahar province today, military officials reported.

The facilitator was responsible for procuring components for improvised explosive devices, building them, and distributing them to other insurgents or personally planting them for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, officials said.

In Afghanistan operations yesterday:

-- A combined force in Balkh province's Mazar-e Sharif district arrested a Taliban facilitator who is accused of procuring IED components, suicide vests and other weapons and distributing them to insurgents for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. At the time of his arrest, he was believed to be actively planning an attack against high-ranking government officials in conjunction with celebrations marking the traditional Afghan new year, or Nowruz. The security force also arrested another insurgent.

-- In Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district, a combined force killed a man who was engaging in insurgent activity.

In other news, Afghan and coalition security forces today confirmed the death of a Taliban leader, Ruhulla, in Nangahar province's Khugyani district March 17. Ruhulla was a known IED expert responsible for numerous attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.