5 Armed Taliban Killed, 3 Wounded and 23 Arrested by ANP (13.Oct.2012.)

Publish Date: Oct 13, 2012

Five Armed Taliban Killed, Three Wounded and 23 Arrested by Afghan National Police

Counterterrorism:

During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, NDS and Coalition Forces launched eight joint clearance operations in Kapisa, Baghlan, Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul, Ghazni, Paktiya, Farah and Helmand provinces.

As a result of these operations, five armed Taliban were killed, three wounded and 23 others were arrested by Afghan National Police.

Also, during these operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated eight AK-47 assault rifles, three pistols, 11 different types of mines, two hand grenades, 41 kilos of explosives, five magazines, one vehicle and one motorcycle.

Additionally, Afghan National Police discovered and defused four anti-vehicle mines, one anti-tank mine and one missile as a result of security operations in Kabul, Baghlan and Helmand provinces, yesterday.

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Coordinated blasts rock southern Zabul province

A explosion rocked southern Zabul province of Afghanistan on Saturday morning.

The incident took place in central city of Qalat at southern Zabul province and there are fears of heavy casualties following the blast.

Provincial security chief Ghulamn Jilani confirming the report said coordinated blasts took place near the Zabul municipality department.

Mr. Jilani further added the incident took place while a vehicle of a priviate security company was crossing the area injuring at least three security guards.

He said the explosive device was planted inside a garbage container.

In the meantime provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Sharif Nasiri said the second explosion took place 15 minutes after the first blast killing at least two people.

No group including the Taliban militants has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident.

from KHAAMA
By Sadaf Shinwari - Sat Oct 13, 10:33 am

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Somali pirates free Greek-owned ship, say ransom was $5.7 mln

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released the Greek-owned bulk carrier Free Goddess and its 21 Filipino crew members after holding the vessel for more than eight months, the secretary general of the Seafarers Union of Kenya said on Friday.

Andrew Mwangura, whose role involves contact with ships sailing the Indian Ocean and catering for crews' welfare, said a ransom was dropped onto the vessel from the air on October 10.

"The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Free Goddess is now free and she is heading to Salalah, Oman, for ... fuel, fresh water and a crew change," Mwangura told Reuters.

Pirates said the ship had been held at Garad, a haven in Puntland that they use.

"We took $5.7 million ransom after holding the ship for months," a pirate in Garad called Mohamed told Reuters.

The amount of the ransom could not immediately be verified independently.

Mwangura is a former head of The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, an independent organization for the welfare of seafarers and a piracy monitoring group.

International navies have cracked down on pirates, including strikes on their coastal bases, and ship firms are increasingly using armed guards and defensive measures on vessels including barbed wire, scaring off Somali seaborne gangs.

That reduced the number of incidents involving Somali pirates to 69 in the first half of 2012, compared with 163 in the same period last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

However, the commander of the European Union's anti-piracy task force has warned that pirates would "try their luck" again following a lull in attacks on the high seas off Somalia now that the monsoon period has ended.

from REUTERS
Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:22pm GMT

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Canadian man and American woman kidnapped in Wardak

According to reports two foreign nationals were abducted by unknown gunmen in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan.

A local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the two individuals were kidnapped in Syedabad district.

The source further added the two individuals including a Canadian Man and an American woman were civilians.

They were kidnapped while they were on their way from eastern Ghazni province to capital Kabul.

No group including the Taliban militants has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident.

Afghan government officials yet to comment regarding the report.

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - Fri Oct 12, 3:11 pm

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Oct. 12., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Daily Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Haqqani leader in Paktiya province today.

The arrested leader is suspected of conducting improvised-explosive-device and indirect-fire attacks on Afghan and coalition forces.

The security force also detained a number of suspected insurgents, and seized several assault weapons and a large quantity of explosive material as a result of the operation.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

North

An Afghan and coalition security force killed a number of armed insurgents during an operation in search of Taliban fighters in Sar-e-Pul province today. The security force seized several assault rifles, shot guns and grenades during the operation.

South

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a number of suspected insurgents during an operation in search of a Taliban leader in Helmand province today. The Taliban leader is responsible for directing multiple attacks targeting Afghan and coalition forces throughout Helmand province.

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Oct. 12., 2012. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed six insurgents, detained 18 and cleared an improvised explosive device during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours, Oct. 11.

Ghazni province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared two IEDs in Gelan district.

Khowst province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces detained 18 insurgents during two engagements in Khowst district. The detained suspects were transferred to a base for questioning.

Wardak province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces killed six insurgents during engagements in Nerkh district and Sayyidabad district.

Operations in RC-East are still ongoing.

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14 dead in Balochistan bomb attacks

ISLAMABAD (PAN): Fourteen people were killed and 28 others wounded in two separate bomb attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, bordering southern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday.

The explosions, condemned by Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani, happened late Thursday evening in Sibi and in Dera Bugti districts of the natural gas-rich province.

Local police official Tahir Shah told Pajhwok Afghan News that 11 people were killed and 26 others injured when a bomb-rigged motorbike exploded near a restaurant on the Nishtar Road in Sibi.

He said the 15kilograms of explosive device damaged 12 shops and five vehicles in the area. Security officials were looking for the attackers, the official added.

Elsewhere in the province, three security personnel were killed and two others seriously injured when their vehicle struck a landmine in the Maro area of Dera Bugti district.

from Pajhwok
by Qaisar Yosufzai on Oct 12, 2012 - 12:38

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US drones kill 16 'militants' in Arakzai strike

By Bill Roggio - October 11, 2012 - LWJ

US drones killed 16 "militants" in a strike today on a compound in Pakistan's Taliban-infested tribal agency of Arakzai. The strike is the first recorded outside of Pakistan's tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan since December 2010.

Pakistani officials told Dawn that the unmanned Predators or Reapers fired four missiles at a compound in the Buland Khel area of Arakzai. The compound belonged to Maulana Shakirullah, "who is the commander of the Hafiz Gul Bahadar group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan)," officials told the Pakistani news agency. However, Bahadur operates independently of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Shakirullah is said to be allied with the Haqqani Network and al Qaeda. No senior al Qaeda or allied jihadist commanders from foreign terrorist groups are reported to have been killed in the strike.
Drone strikes outside of the designated "kill boxes" in North and South Waziristan are rare. Of the 318 drone strikes recorded by The Long War Journal since 2004, only 17 have taken place outside of North and South Waziristan.

Today's strike is the first that has been reported outside of North and South Waziristan since the US hit training camps belonging to Taliban commander Tariq Afridi in the tribal agency of Khyber in four strikes on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 in 2010.

The US has conducted only one strike in Arakzai in the past, on April 1, 2009. In that strike, which targeted a Taliban compound in the town of Khadzai, a region run by Hakeemullah Mehsud, the emir of the al Qaeda-linked Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, 12 Taliban fighters and al Qaeda operatives were killed and 12 more were wounded. Hakeemullah was thought to be attending a senior Taliban leadership meeting at the compound, but was not killed in the strike. Abdullah Hamas al Filistini, a senior al Qaeda trainer, was among those killed in the April 1 strike.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/10/us_drones_kil_16_mil.php#ixzz291PrKyb0

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Oct. 11., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Morning Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan and coalition security force arrested an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan financial facilitator in Kunduz province, Wednesday.

The arrested leader is suspected of being heavily involved in purchasing and trafficking weapons for use in attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in Kunduz province.

The security force also detained multiple suspected insurgents as a result of the operation.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout
Afghanistan:

North

The Afghan Police in Baghlan, enabled by coalition forces, seized a cache of weapons yesterday believed to be linked to a Taliban leader in Baglan province. The Afghan-led troops recovered a number of rockets, an anti-tank mine, more than 40 mortar rounds and two hand grenades. All ammunition was destroyed in location.

East

An Afghan and coalition force killed Haqqani leader, Nasrullah, in an operation in Paktiya province, Wednesday. During the operation, the security force positively identified Nasrullah engaging in insurgent activity in an isolated area away from civilians. The security force conducted a precision airstrike, killing him.

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Oct. 11., 2012. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed six insurgents, located two weapons caches and cleared 15 improvised explosive devices during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours, Oct. 10.

Ghazni province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared three IEDs, two in Ghazni district and one in Gelan district.

Khowst province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Gurbuz district.

Afghan Uniformed Police and coalition forces discovered a weapons cache in Shamal district. The cache contained small arms, grenades and an IED.

Logar province
Afghan National Army soldiers found and safely cleared an IED in Baraki Barak district.

Afghan National Army soldiers killed an insurgent during an engagement in Baraki Barak district.

Paktika province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared six IEDs in Orgun district.

Afghan Border Police killed an insurgent and discovered a weapons cache in Wazah Khwah district. The cache contained a radio, small arms, two motorcycles, three remotes, explosives and three knives.

Paktya province
Afghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Zurmat district.

Wardak province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared three IEDs in Sayyidabad District.

Afghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces killed four insurgents during an engagement in Jaghatu dstrict.

Operations in RC-East are still ongoing.

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