Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2011 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed numerous insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader in the Azrah district of Afghanistan's Logar province yesterday, military officials reported.

The insurgents, armed with a machine gun and assault rifles, opened fire on the force, but with assistance from an air weapons team, the combined force killed the insurgents.

The target of the operation was a Taliban leader responsible for directing roadside-bomb attacks and commanding subordinate leaders and fighters in the province's Hisarak district.

In other operations in Afghanistan yesterday:

-- In Balkh province's Sholgarah district, a combined force detained numerous suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban-appointed governing official for operations in the province. He also organizes funding and delegates authority to leaders in Afghanistan, taking orders from the Quetta Shura in Pakistan.

-- In Baghlan province's Pul-e Khumri district, an Afghan-led combined force detained two suspected insurgents while targeting an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan terrorist organization organizer who plans attacks and movements in Takhar province.

-- A combined force detained several suspected insurgents in Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district while targeting a Taliban leader who plans and commands operations against Afghan and coalition forces and supplies weapons to fighters to various Taliban attack cells.

-- A combined force detained several men with suspected ties to the Taliban in Kandahar province's Panjwai district. The force also destroyed roadside-bomb materials. The force was targeting a Taliban leader responsible for conducting roadside-bomb attacks and distributing bomb materials in eastern Panjwai.

-- In Zabul province's Shajoy district, an Afghan-led force detained a suspected insurgent while searching for a Taliban organizer who distributes money and information among Taliban leaders in the Qalat and Tarnek wa Jaldak districts.

-- In Wardak province's Sayyidabad district, a combined force killed numerous insurgents and detained several others with ties to the Taliban. The force tried to clear a building and peacefully apprehend the insurgents. They did not comply after several security force requests, and repeatedly displayed hostile intent. The force fired in defense, killing several insurgents armed with grenades and assault rifles.

-- In Paktia province's Zurmat district, a combined force detained a Taliban leader and two suspected insurgents. The leader is believed to have commanded a group of insurgents responsible for device July 5 bombing attack that killed three coalition service members.

-- A combined force detained numerous people with suspected ties to the Haqqani terrorist network in Khost province's Musa Khel district. The force was searching for a Haqqani organizer responsible for high-profile attacks in the area.

-- A combined force detained a suspected insurgent while searching for a Taliban organizer who provides a safe haven for senior Taliban leaders in Paktika province's Mata Khan district.

-- A combined patrol seized a narcotics and weapons cache in Daykundi province's Kajran district that included 2,037 pounds of opium, 4 pounds of heroin, 110 pounds of marijuana seeds, 44 pounds of marijuana, four rifles, two pistols and 33 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a banned fertilizer used in homemade bombs.

-- A security force detained two suspected insurgents and destroyed an unstable explosive ordnance facility in Kandahar province's Zharay district. The building housing the explosives posed an imminent threat to residents in the area. The force destroyed the building based on information from residents.

-- A combined force in Uruzgan province's Deh Rawud district seized two assault rifles, two shotguns, a pistol, 100 7.62 mm rounds, 34 shotgun rounds, 20 mortar charges, 51 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a pressure plate, a grenade and various bomb-making materials. Several insurgents were detained.

-- Separate combined operations in Kandahar province's Maiwand district yielded two drug caches totaling 220 pounds of marijuana and 110 pounds of hashish.

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