Thursday, May 10, 2007

Militants detained; weapons cache found

WASHINGTON - Coalition forces detained five suspected Taliban militants in Zabul province, Afghanistan, on Monday, and Afghan civilians led coalition and Afghan security forces to a weapons cache Saturday in Paktia province, military officials reported.

Coalition forces detained the five men after a raid on a compound in the Qalat district of the Zabul province early Monday morning. Credible evidence led the forces to the compound, where the suspected militants had a man positioned on the roof with a two-way radio, officials said. Coalition forces entered the compound, and two men fled the scene. The forces took them into custody.

The detainees are suspected of fighting and working for militants; one is an admitted Taliban extremist, officials said. Coalition forces inventoried the house, finding two AK-47 assault rifles, an RPK machine gun and two fragmentation grenades.

Elsewhere, local Afghan civilians reported the location of a munitions cache found in the Jaji district of Paktia province Saturday to Afghan National Police and coalition forces operating in the province. The recovered cache consisted of an assortment of 75 mm recoilless rounds, 107 mm rockets, land mines, hand grenades, and cases of anti-aircraft and heavy machine gun ammunition.