OEF Update, Dec. 15, 2009: Forces Nab Taliban Commander in Zabul, Kill Militants in Kandahar; US Casualty

Dispatches from the Front:

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009 -- An Afghan-international security force detained a Taliban commander and other militants in Zabul province today. The Taliban commander is linked to IED facilitation and is responsible for several attacks in the area.

The joint security force searched a compound in the provincial capital of Qalat where intelligence sources reported the commander to be located. The joint force searched the compound without incident and detained a few militants, one of whom identified himself as the targeted individual in the operation. No shots were fired and no one was harmed.

In another operation, security forces killed four militants Monday after observing the men emplacing an IED near the village of Charhar Bagh in Kandahar.

The ISAF unit ended the engagement when two insurgents fled into the village. ISAF believes no civilians were injured or killed in this operation but is investigating claims made to the contrary.

ISAF Casualty:

An ISAF servicemember from the United States was killed today in an IED strike in southern Afghanistan.

(Compiled from NATO International Security Assistance Force news releases.)