OEF Summary, Oct. 23, 2009: Forces in Afghanistan Kill Enemy Fighters, Detain Suspects

Dispatches from the Front:

KABUL, Oct. 23, 2009 -- A combined Afghan and international security force killed enemy fighters and wounded another yesterday after forcefully entering and searching a series of compounds in Afghanistan’s Wardak province.

The compounds were known to be used by a Taliban commander and his group believed to be responsible for several attacks in the area.

The combined force initially searched a building in the province’s Chaki Wardak district without incident. But after observing enemy activity in a nearby compound, the force pursued those suspected militants. The militants fired on the combined force as it approached, and the force returned fire, killing a militant armed with an assault rifle, a pistol, fragmentation grenades and communications gear.

Hostile fire continued, and the combined force killed another militant and wounded another, who then was given medical aid. A search of enemy positions yielded multiple assault rifles and grenades.

In a separate Wardak province operation, a combined force detained several suspected militants after searching buildings in the Saydabad district known to be used by a senior Taliban commander believed associated with Taliban and Haqqani terrorist leaders in the area.

In Helmand province, a combined force killed several enemy militants and detained half a dozen others today after taking hostile fire when approaching a compound known to be used by senior Taliban commanders responsible for several attacks and other militant activities in the area.

(From an International Security Assistance Force news release.)