OEF Summary; Nov. 14, 2008: Troops Kill 4 in Afghanistan Bomb Network

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2008 -- Coalition forces killed four al-Qaida insurgents during fighting yesterday in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province, military officials said.

The troops were conducting an operation in the Zurmat district to catch a man known for helping Taliban leaders bring foreign fighters into Afghanistan when they came under fire from insurgents who were known to carry out numerous bomb attacks in the region.

The force approached the targeted militants, who refused to follow instructions and attempted to engage the force with AK-47 assault rifles, officials said, so the force engaged with small-arms fire and killed them.

A search of the area revealed the militants were heavily armed with multiple AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and pistols. These items were destroyed to prevent future use, they said.

In other news from Afghanistan, coalition forces responded today to a site in the Gulistan district of Farah province in western Afghanistan, where militant mortar fire killed one civilian and wounded another.

A coalition forces patrol responded to a bazaar where the mortar rounds landed, officials said. They coordinated the evacuation of the wounded civilian to a nearby NATO International Security Assistance Force medical facility.

“While coalition forces make every effort to protect the lives of innocent Afghans, we have seen in recent days the tragic results of indiscriminate attacks by extremists,” said Army Col. Greg Julian, U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokesman. “This event follows on the heels of suicide bombings by extremists in Kandahar and Nangarhar killing and injuring innocent civilians, and the senseless battery-acid attack on schoolgirls in Kandahar.”

(Compiled from U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)

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