ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan 2010-12-S-336 For Immediate Release Download PDF    KABUL, Afghanistan (Dec. 30) – Forces detained a key Taliban facilitator linked to the murder of a local Afghan in March in Kandahar province yesterday.   Afghan and coalition forces conducted the operation against the Taliban facilitator who was responsible for supplying, planning and reporting attacks against coalition forces detaining the targeted individual and four additional suspects.   Evidence at the site linked the man to a murdered Afghan found in March in the Zharay district of the province. The murdered man was found with a Taliban night letter stating, “People working with Americans will be killed and they have no right to complain.”   Night letters are a Taliban weapon used to intimidate local Afghans. The letters, bearing the Taliban letterhead, deliver threats of death and harassment to locals who either refuse to support terrorist efforts or maintain support of coalition efforts, or both.   “We will not let these senseless murders go without reprisal,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Patrick Hynes, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director. “We will continue to track down and capture those responsible for crimes against local citizens who are standing up for a terror-free life.”   Forces followed leads to a series of buildings in the Kandahar district. The joint forces questioned the occupants at the location and conducted a search. The targeted individual and additional suspects were detained based on initial questioning and evidence gathered at the scene.   The joint security team conducted the operation in the hours of darkness to minimize the risk to local citizens. No women or children were injured or detained during this operation.   The security forces conducted the operation without firing their weapons.