KABUL, Dec 30 (KUNA) — The Afghan army and Afghan police arrested several insurgent commanders during two days of operations in southeastern Afghanistan, officials claimed on Sunday.
A statement from the coalition Bagram base here said the operation was conducted in Sabri district of Khost province. Sabari district has been a main insurgent safe haven in Khost province for some time, said the statement.
The major insurgent facilitator nabbed was affiliated with the Hizb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and was believed to have also ties to the Haqqani network, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda.
“He is suspected of directing IED attacks, antagonizing feuding tribes in the area, and facilitating other insurgent activities detrimental to the positive development of Afghanistan,” said coalition forces’ spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher.
The Afghan police assisted by Afghan commandos also arrested a suspected deputy Taliban commander during the operation. Several other insurgents were captured, including a suspected insurgent responsible for providing financial support to IED cells in the Sabari district.
Separately, the forces arrested a “key insurgent leader” and two suspected improvised explosive device facilitators in Sherzad district in the country’s eastern Nangarhar province.
Acting on credible intelligence, Afghan National Police Unit 03 conducted a security patrol in the area and searched a compound that served as a suspected insurgent safe-house. During the search, security forces arrested Zabid Zahir, the suspected commander of the Hizb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.” “The arrest of these suspected insurgents will result in a positive change for the eastern Nangarhar province,” said a coalition forces commander in the statement.