Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46312
Afghan, Coalition Forces Conduct Successful Operations
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 – Afghan and coalition forces detained 19 suspected militants, killed two dozen enemy fighters and discovered numerous enemy weapons during operations in Afghanistan over the past three days, military officials reported.
In operations today, Afghan and coalition forces detained 10 militants in an operation against Taliban forces in the Qalat district of Zabul province.
Coalition forces acted on credible intelligence that led them to the suspected Taliban hideout, officials said. As forces began the operation, two men fled the scene with a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher and three grenades. Coalition forces fired warning shots and apprehended the two men. A search revealed an additional eight suspected local militants.
“Taliban militants who choose to take up arms against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan are putting themselves and those around them in jeopardy,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. “These insurgents will be brought to justice.”
In operations yesterday, an unknown number of enemy fighters attacked elements of 1st Brigade, 205th Afghan National Army Corps, and coalition forces operating in Oruzgan province, officials said.
Afghan and coalition forces repelled two separate enemy attacks on the outer edge of Qadam village. Enemy fighters then retreated to a nearby compound and continued to fire on the friendly force. The combined force maneuvered to gain the advantage over the enemy fighters and directed coalition air support to drop munitions on the enemy position.
Afghan soldiers detained nine enemy fighters, discovered weapons, ammunition and two dead fighters during a follow-on search of the compound.
During operations June 4, an unknown number of enemy fighters attacked 209th Afghan National Army Corps soldiers and coalition forces in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.
Afghan and coalition forces received rocket and small-arms fire near a village north of Kandahar. The combined force returned fire at the enemy force then maneuvered to defendable fighting positions. Coalition close-air support was requested and munitions were dropped on three enemy positions, officials reported.
An estimated two dozen enemy fighters were killed during the four-hour battle, and no injuries to Afghan civilian were reported.
“Enemy fighters are no match for the skill and determination of the Afghan National Army and coalition forces,” Belcher said. “We will continue to pursue and defeat all enemy fighters who threaten the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.”
(Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases.)
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46323
Coalition Has Nullified Taliban’s Spring Offensive, General Says
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 – Coalition forces have the upper hand against Afghan insurgents despite previous fears of a bloody Taliban spring offensive aided by Iranian technology, the deputy director for operations on the Joint Staff said here today.
“I will tell you, I think in fact the offensive is not theirs but ours,” Army Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins told Pentagon reporters in a news conference.
Coalition troops have been highly active in Afghanistan’s eastern and southern sectors, Wiggins said, and the Taliban’s leadership and fighting force has suffered “serious losses.”
Mullah Dadullah Lang, the Taliban’s top military commander and “functional leader,” was killed May 11 in the Ganstrah district of Helmand province, Wiggins announced during a May 16 operational briefing here.
“Dadullah Lang was responsible for the ethnic cleansing of the Hazaras in Bamyan province when the Taliban was in power. He was the lead proponent of suicide bombings and supervised dozens of Afghan beheadings. He was also behind the recent kidnappings of a Western journalist and French aid worker,” said Wiggins, who described Lang’s death as a “serious setback” for the enemy.
Today, the general expressed concern over insurgents’ increasing use of complex asymmetric warfare tactics, including car and suicide bombings, and improvised explosive device and explosively formed penetrator attacks. EFPs are shaped charges designed to pierce armored vehicles.
“We’re taking a look at a move toward a more asymmetric type of targeting or attacks through the use of IEDs,” he said. “And a particular concern with the IEDs is the technology associated with these IEDs.”
Wiggins said military officials believe technology involved in such bombing attacks is being imported from Iran. “We have seen some technology that tends us to believe that it’s coming in from Iran. … We know there’s a flow,” he said.
Iran also is exporting technology to insurgents in Iraq, Wiggins said, citing recent statements by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. “Secretary Gates (talked) about the Iranian technology that seems to be flowing into Iraq. And the fact of the matter is, we need to stem that type of technology,” he said.
In Iraq, attacks involving EFPs are occurring more frequently, Wiggins said.
“EFPs are a concern,” he said. “We have seen a slight increase in that type of technology over the past several months.”
During dialogues with Iranian diplomats, Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, addressed Iran’s problematic exportation of weapons technology, the general said.
“One of the points that he brought up is we need to thwart the influx of this type of weapon systems coming into Iraq,” Wiggins said. “The bottom line is actions speak louder than words with regard to these particular types of things.”