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WASHINGTON, June 4, 2005 – Three insurgents were captured and one was killed today following an ambush of Afghan and coalition forces south of Qalat in Afghanistan's Zabul province.
Coalition forces reported coming under attack by small-arms fire while moving through a village south of Qalat. Coalition helicopters responded to the scene to assist the patrol. Afghan and coalition forces were conducting security patrols in the area when the ambush occurred. No Afghan or coalition forces were killed or injured as a result of the attack, officials said. Afghan National Army forces reported the successful June 2 capture of a key terrorist near Farah after conducting a raid to find him, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials said today. Mullah Sultan is accused of assisting in assembling and emplacing improvised explosive devices in western Afghanistan, officials said. He also is accused of harboring a large cache of weapons stolen while serving as a division commander under the Taliban government, and of links to narcotics-smuggling operations. "Afghan National Army forces worked their own intelligence sources to develop knowledge of the areas Mullah Sultan might be operating from," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James G. Champion, Combined Joint Task Force 76's deputy commanding general for operations. "Acting on that intelligence, ANA forces conducted the raid. The detention of insurgents like Mullah Sultan means that Afghanistan is a safer place today then it was yesterday." (Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)
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