OEF Summary, April 3, 2009: Troops in Afghanistan Kill 5 Enemy Fighters

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2009 – Afghan and coalition forces killed five enemy fighters in operations yesterday and overnight in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, military officials reported.

The overnight operation in the province’s Nad Ali district, targeted a mid-level Taliban commander responsible for attacks against Afghan civilians and coalition forces, including a suicide-bomber attack on the Musa Qala Bazaar and an attack on coalition forces that killed 12 Afghan civilians in Musa Qala, both in December.

Upon arriving at the targeted compound, assault forces killed two guards who attempted to engage them. Afghan forces called out for all noncombatants to leave the compound, and two armed militants who didn’t comply were killed during the assault on the building they occupied. Forces removed AK-47 assault rifles, shotguns and chest racks from the compound, preventing militants from using them against civilians or Afghan and coalition Forces.

Five men, 10 women and 21 children were protected during the operation, with no collateral damage reported to the compound, officials said.

In northern Helmand yesterday, a combined force on a combat reconnaissance patrol was attacked by insurgents with small-arms, rocket-propelled grenade and mortar fire. The combined forces closed in on enemy fighting positions and returned fire, killing one attacker.

In a separate incident, a coalition forces convoy vehicle struck a roadside bomb, damaging an ambulance carrying medical personnel and supplies on its way to deliver humanitarian aid to villages in Helmand’s Kajaki district. No injuries were reported.

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

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