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2012-05-S-055

For Immediate Release

KABUL, Afghanistan (May 30) — A combined Afghan and coalition security force conducted an operation to detain a Taliban facilitator in Sayyidabad district, Wardak province, today.
The Taliban facilitator works directly for the senior Taliban leader in Sayyidabad and also supplies weapons, ammunition and equipment to insurgents for attacks against Afghan and coalition troops.
As the combined force approached the leader’s suspected location, multiple insurgents fired on the Afghan and coalition troops from within a building, which was later determined to be a mosque. The security force returned fire, killing the insurgent attackers. The Afghan troops went into the building to ensure no insurgents remained.
As the Afghan force cleared the area, they discovered one of the insurgents killed in the exchange had an unstable grenade rigged to his equipment. The Afghan troops requested a coalition explosives expert enter the building and defuse the grenade. The explosives expert rendered the grenade safe, removed it without incident, and departed the area as the Afghan forces finished clearing the building.
During the subsequent search, the Afghan forces recovered a machine gun, multiple AK-47s and several grenades.