OEF Update, Dec. 19, 2009: Forces Strike Haqqani Militants in Paktika; US Casualty

Dispatches from the Front:

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 19, 2009 -- An international security force air strike killed several militants at a mountaintop fighting position in Paktika province yesterday while pursuing a Haqqani commander responsible for attacks in the area.

The security force targeted the militants after intelligence sources indicated they were in a remote area away from buildings and other structures. A security detachment searched the fighting position after the strike to assess damage and recovered a machine gun, an RPG launcher with rounds, an AK-47 rifle and a pistol. No Afghan civilians were harmed during this operation.

In a separate operation, an Afghan-international security force detained a couple of suspected militants in Kandahar province today while pursuing a Taliban commander responsible for attacks in the area.

The joint force targeted a compound near the village of Koor Balaygh in Ghorak district where intelligence sources reported militant activity. During the operation, the joint force observed the individuals quickly leave the compound. An element of the joint force pursued the individuals and detained them without incident. No shots were fired and no one was harmed.

ISAF Casualty:

ISAF suffered a fatality yesterday when a U.S. servicemember died as a result of an IED strike in southern Afghanistan.

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