OEF Summary, May 10, 2009: Troops in Afghanistan Kill 1 Militant in Paktika, Detain 7 in Nangarhar

Dispatches from the Front:

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 10, 2009 -- Afghan national security forces and coalition forces killed one militant and detained seven suspects during operations overnight to disrupt Taliban networks in eastern Afghanistan.

In Sharan District, Paktika province, approximately 50 kilometers southeast of Ghazni, Afghan national police and coalition forces conducted a joint operation to disrupt a Taliban network assessed to be bringing weapons and foreign fighters into the region to support offensive military operations against the Afghan government and people.

When the force arrived at the targeted location, a man who had barricaded himself in one of the buildings was killed during an encounter following his refusal to comply with instructions by Afghan police to surrender peacefully.

Without further incident, forces detained two suspected militants on the compound and uncovered multiple chest racks, grenades, armor-piercing rounds, materials used to make improvised explosive devices, and a large, underground cache of munitions which was booby-trapped. Additionally, forces discovered cell phones altered for use as bomb-detonation devices.

With 12 adults and 10 children moved to safety, forces destroyed the munitions and weapons in place.

In a separate operation in Sorkh Rod District, Nangarhar province, in the southwestern outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghan national army and coalition forces carried out a joint operation to capture a Taliban commander involved in planning and conducting attacks on coalition forces and in facilitating IED operations.

Afghan forces called for all occupants to exit their buildings, resulting in the detention of five suspected militants, including the targeted Taliban commander, with no shots fired and no injuries to anyone on the compound.

(From a U.S. Forces Afghanistan news release.)

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