OEF Summary; Dec. 8, 2008: Troops Kill Enemy Fighters in Helmand Province

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2008 -- Afghan and coalition forces killed six militants during a security patrol yesterday in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, military officials reported.

The combined forces positively identified an armed enemy reconnaissance element posing an imminent threat to the patrol and engaged it with small-arms fire, killing two militants.

In a separate incident, the combined forces received small-arms fire from militants in a concealed position along the patrol route. Troops responded with small-arms fire and killed four militants.

Coalition forces found and destroyed two roadside bombs in separate locations on the route, a road frequently traveled by local villagers, officials said.

In Jalalabad City in Afghanistan’s Nangahar province, Afghan National Army commandos, assisted by coalition forces, detained suspected suicide-bombing facilitator Zia Rahman.

After receiving credible information from local officials on an impending assassination plot against the Nangarhar provincial governor, the Afghan commandos raided a Taliban safe house in Jalalabad City.

Within minutes of entering the home, the commandos detained Rahman, also known as Hamid, who is believed responsible for transporting and training the potential suicide bomber. During the operation, the commandos also safeguarded 41 men, women and children, officials said. Rahman tested positive for explosive residue.

Rahman also has been linked to several suicide vehicle-bomb attacks in Nangarhar province, including one in November that resulted in a U.S. servicemember being killed in action in Bati Kot.

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

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