Combined Forces locate drug cache in Panjwa’i

Image by JIEDDO via Flickr

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (November 30, 2011) –

 The Afghan National Civil Order Police and Afghan National Police, combat advised by coalition Special Operations Forces (SOF), conducted a joint security operation in Panjwa’i district, Nov. 25-27.

            During the operation, the joint force seized and destroyed large quantities of marijuana, hashish, homemade explosives and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) components. 
            On the initial discovery of more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, explosives ordnance disposal technicians at the scene determined the marijuana was too dangerous to be moved, so the team burned the drugs in place. 
According to a representative from coalition SOF, as the marijuana was burning, the joint force observed 14 detonations coming from within the fire, most likely caused by ammunition, IED components and other explosives hidden by insurgents.
            In all, the operation yielded a total of 1,500 pounds of marijuana, 1,300 pounds of hashish, a rocket propelled grenade round, 140 pounds of homemade explosives and other various IED components.  All of the items were seized and destroyed by Afghan forces.
The joint force also discovered and destroyed four IEDs planted throughout the village by insurgents in an attempt to strike against Afghan and coalition forces in the area.
            The operation allowed Afghan forces to displace insurgents from their fighting positions as well as secure the village and the surrounding areas, said a representative from coalition SOF.  It also allowed forces to challenge the insurgents’ freedom of movement in the area as well as deny their safe havens within the district.
No civilian casualties or property damage resulted from these operations.

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Commandos conduct operations in traditional insurgent stronghold

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The 1st Commando Kandak, combat advised by coalition special operations forces, conducted clearing operations in Merdesh village, Kamdesh district, Nov. 20.











Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan Media Operations Center
Story by Staff Sgt. Fritz Butac

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The 1st Commando Kandak, combat advised by coalition special operations forces, conducted clearing operations in Merdesh village, Kamdesh district, Nov. 20.

The operation was successful in disrupting insurgent freedom of movement and operations in the traditional insurgent stronghold. Twenty-one insurgents were killed in the operations and seven insurgents were detained by the commandos. All detainees remain in commando custody.

The commandos confiscated numerous weapons and insurgent propaganda. 

“This [operation] shows the Afghan people that [insurgents] do not have freedom of movement throughout Nuristan,” said a coalition SOF team member. “The local populace was happy to see a legitimate Afghan force conducting operations in Nuristan.” 

No civilian injuries or collateral damage to the villages was reported.

Afghan National Army special forces and coalition special operations forces speak with a village elder during a presence patrol, Sayed Abad district, Nov. 6. The forces visited three villages in the area to distribute items and ask about the living conditions and needs of the villagers. Photo by Sgt. Lizette Hart

 

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Afghan special forces capture IED facility

HELMAND, Afghanistan (Nov. 20, 2011) –
 Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANASF), partnered with Coalition Special Operations Forces (SOF), located and captured an enemy Improvised Explosive Device (IED) facility in Malozai village, Sangin district, Nov. 20.    


By Sgt. Christopher Hammond
Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force

HELMAND, Afghanistan (Nov. 20, 2011) – Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANASF), partnered with Coalition Special Operations Forces (SOF), located and captured an enemy Improvised Explosive Device (IED) facility in Malozai village, Sangin district, Nov. 20.
     
ANASF and SOF received a tip about the facility’s location from the Afghan Local Police while conducting a security patrol in the area.           

As they entered the facility, they discovered one completed IED and a carbon rod pressure plate with 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate.  Upon further inspection of the facility, ANASF and SOF explosive ordinance disposal discovered and assessed that the facility was rigged to detonate with multiple anti-tampering hazards throughout.

Once the threat was assessed, the ANASF cleared the surrounding compounds of all villagers and the security element continued to push further out and into the surrounding areas.

The facility contained 63 pressure plates, more than 100 battery packs, 30 pounds of ammonium nitrate and one 60 mm mortar shell.  In addition, they discovered Russian munitions, three 30 mm grenades, one bag of aluminum powder and AK-47 assault rifle ammunition.
 
ANASF and SOF team members safely secured and detonated the ammunition in place and transported the rest, which couldn’t be detonated due to the risk of causing nearby damage, to a local Afghan compound.

 No injuries or property damage occurred during the controlled detonation.
 

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Spec-Ops Command: SEAL Raid Book 'a Lie'

Spec-Ops Command: SEAL Raid Book 'a Lie' by Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press.

The U.S. military is denouncing a former Navy SEAL's book that claims to describe the "real" version of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
"It's just not true," U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Col. Tim Nye said. "It's not how it happened."
Laden with conspiracy theories and attacks on the Obama White House, Chuck Pfarrer's "SEAL Target Geronimo" claims an alternative version of the raid…

by SWJ Editors

SWJ Blog Post | November 15, 2011 - 5:46am

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Kill Bin Laden- Read it!

by Uncle Jimbo @ Blackfive.net
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341bfadb53ef015393084080970b
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Do you remember where you were when you heard bin Laden was dead? I do, and I remember doing a particularly festive version of the dead tango dance. Now imagine an entire book about it. Not just the op, but the intel, the surveillance, and the mission prep.  The wonderful thing is you know how it turns out: He gets shot in the eye (and elsewhere) and then fed to the fishes. You will be most pleased to find out exactly how the fish feeding was done - perfectly apropos.
The book is Kill Bin Laden and there was only one guy to write it, John Weisman, who turned Dick Marcinko's SEAL stories into the Rogue Warrior series and has written many other CIA and special ops fiction and non-fiction books. He has the contacts, the knowledge, the storytelling ability and the wicked attitude needed to make this work. It is a novel so artistic license was certainly taken. You often read that a story was "ripped from the headlines". Well the headlines about this mission have been so full of BS and spin that to say that about this book would be an insult. This "novel" has more reality embedded in it than anything you've read in the press.  Many public figures make thinly-disguised appearances:  You will enjoy seeing a number of these perfumed princes get punctured.
In the end, it boils down to a great tale about a great mission. The level of detail and accuracy regarding operations is team room level and the political machinations that always seem poised to derail these operations are laid out for inspection. No actual secrets or tactics are exposed as John vets all of his work with people in a position to ensure OPSEC. He adds characters and story lines to this feel-good win and fleshes it out into a book you will read with as few interruptions as you can manage. I think we all can be inspired by a double amputee, former Ranger, as a protagonist who battles his own challenges as well as our enemies.
There are few people on Earth who deserved a return to room temperature via cranial ventilation more than Usama bin Laden. Reading about how this went down is about the best thing I can think of, well......next to watching the helmet cam footage. Short of that, I highly recommend Kill Bin Laden.

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In Afghanistan, special units do dirty work

a special report by Carmen Gentile, for USA TODAY,
with some history, photos, stats

CHAMKANI, Afghanistan — Insurgents prowling the steep mountains and narrow valleys of this remote land have a name for the U.S. Special Forces: "Bearded Bastards."

Growing facial hair is one way U.S. Green Berets blend in among the locals here along the Pakistan border. Their specialty is what the military calls the "self-sustaining element," a force able to fight for long periods in extreme conditions.

"We operate in the seams and gaps where conventional forces can't go," says Maj. Eric Wright, a Special Forces advance operational base commander in nearby Khost Province.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks more than a decade ago, U.S. Special Forces have been embedded here — and in conflict areas such as the Philippines, Yemen and Somalia — in an attempt to quash insurgent Islamists and train locals to take up the fight against them.

Read more here: In Afghanistan, special units do dirty work – USATODAY.com

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