OEF Update, June 1, 2009: Troops Kill 4 Militants, Detain 2 in Wardak

Dispatches from the Front:

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 1, 2009 -- Afghan and coalition forces killed four militants and detained two suspects during a raid in Wardak province early this morning, June 1, to capture a Taliban commander operating an improvised explosive device network in eastern Afghanistan.

In Saydabad District, Wardak province, a combined force patrolled to a compound near Tagab, where they conducted a deliberate operation to locate and detain a Taliban commander responsible for the IED blast in June of 2008 that claimed the lives of three U.S. Soldiers and an Afghan citizen.

Forces searched a compound in the village without incident, detaining two suspects, including a man believed to be the targeted Taliban commander.

During the search, a security element observed four men moving suspiciously at an adjacent compound and departing the village. An element from the assault force pursued the men, but the combatants engaged the force with small arms fire and maneuvered on the Afghan and coalition forces. Forces returned fire and made multiple attempts to subdue the combatants using non-lethal force, but the men were undeterred.

All four combatants died when forces engaged them with small arms fire as they maneuvered on forces while using thick vegetation and a riverbank to conceal their positions.

Military officials also said that a U.S. servicemember died Sunday in southern Afghanistan due to non-combat related injuries.

(From U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)

Tags: DOD, Military, War, United States, U.S., Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF, al Qaeda, al Qaida, GWOT, terrorism, Taliban, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, Dispatches from the Front
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension