Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51769
Troops Dismantle Drug Nest, Deal Blow to Taliban Finances
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2008 – Coalition and Afghan forces today dismantled a drug-making facility in southeastern Afghanistan and destroyed 44 tons of hashish in what military officials say is a major blow to funding terrorists in the country.
“Today’s discovery clearly demonstrated the links between the Taliban and drug trafficking,” said Army Col. Greg Julian, U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokesman. “The huge amount of drugs destroyed today will greatly hinder the Taliban’s ability to fund their ongoing, hopeless struggle to subjugate the Afghan people.”
Afghan commandos and coalition forces were searching an area known for insurgent activities in the Spin Buldak district of Kandahar province when the facility was discovered, officials said. The search of the area is ongoing, they said.
In other news from Afghanistan, coalition and Afghan forces killed two militants yesterday in the Maywand district of Kandahar province during a search of an insurgent compound there.
During the search, militants engaged the troops with small-arms fire. The troops responded with small-arms fire, killing two, officials said.
After the engagement, the combined forces discovered a bomb-making facility containing explosives, 10 pounds of heroin, 4 pounds of opium, a small weapons cache and a torture device. The cache was confiscated and the drugs and explosives were destroyed, officials said.
No Afghan, coalition or civilian casualties were reported in either operation.
(Compiled from U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51767
Troops Capture Two Dozen Terrorist Suspects in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq captured 24 suspected terrorist operatives in three days of operations, military officials reported today.
The operations targeted al-Qaida in Iraq in the central and northern regions of the country, mostly today and yesterday, officials said.
In a series of coordinated operations in Mosul today, coalition troops degraded al-Qaida in Iraq’s bomb network, capturing a man who intelligence reports suggest oversees the movement of bomb-making materials into the city, officials said. The suspect is believed to deal directly with senior bomb-making leaders in the region. Eleven others suspects were detained during the operations.
Also today, troops captured a man believed to have connections to multiple al-Qaida in Iraq contacts in the region, officials said. Four additional suspects believed to be his associates were detained for further questioning. Troops discovered multiple rifles and magazines along with bomb-making materials at the site.
Troops operating in Amariyah, about 33 miles southwest of Baghdad, captured a man yesterday who is suspected of aiding in car- and roadside-bomb attacks in the area. The man, who surrendered, is believed to have connections to al-Qaida in Iraq leaders in the region, officials said.
Also yesterday, coalition troops detained a terrorist suspect in Mosul and another in Beiji, about 100 miles south of the city, they said.
In other recent operations:
— Coalition and Iraqi security forces detained three suspected terrorists Nov. 1 in southern Baghdad’s Rashid district and seized a 57 mm warhead, three mortar fuses, a rocket fuse, three blocks of plastic explosives and three grenade fuses.
— Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, captured a terrorist suspect yesterday in southern Baghdad’s Aamel community.
— Coalition and Iraqi forces found multiple weapons caches yesterday in Baghdad that included four rocket motors, 19 flares, two hand grenades, a bag of AK-47 assault rifle ammunition, a 120 mm high-explosive mortar round, 15 57 mm anti-aircraft projectiles, a can of 14.5 heavy machine gun rounds, three 82 mm mortars, a 73 mm high-explosive projectile, three 100 mm projectiles, two rocket motors and Lebanese currency.