Posted on 08/22/2006 9:15:00 PM PDT by mdittmar
KABUL , Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces conducted a pre-dawn raid on a compound housing suspected terrorists Aug. 22 near Paru Kheyl village in Khowst Province .
Three suspects were taken into custody.
Assorted weapons and ammunition were confiscated in the operation. Weapons included automatic and bolt-action rifles, a shotgun and ammunition-carrying chest racks.
Three other males found in the compound were released after questioning. More than 20 women and children were also located within the facilities. The Coalition notes that extremists are deliberately and immorally surrounding themselves with innocent civilians, knowing the Coalition takes extraordinary measures to prevent civilian casualities.
The purpose of this operation was to capture a known al Qaeda facilitator. Credible intelligence linked the targeted individual to suspected terrorist activities and attacks against the Afghan and Coalition forces in Khowst Province .
The Coalition is currently assessing information taken from the raid and determining the level of involvement of the three suspected terrorists taken into custody.
No shots were fired and no Afghan or Coalition forces were injured during the operation.
This operation was a coordinated effort between Afghan and Coalition forces,” said Col. Thomas Collins, Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan spokesman. “This joint team will continue to target the al Qaeda network and remove their means of support in order to extend the reach of the government and ultimately improve the lives of the Afghan people.”
Guardian of the Harem
It is not unusual to encounter that many women on a raid like that. Their rural compounds often house entire extended families; dozens of people. Then they have the hospitality tradition of letting in anyone who approaches and asks for shelter--a fairly common occurrence in a country where there is little in the way of hotels and motels and even less money to pay to stay in one. It is also not unusual for many of the men to be gone--out as a herder or fighting in the Afghan Army or for the Taliban or harvesting opium; the usual Afghan rural pursuits.
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