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WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2004 – Coalition forces captured 16 enemy insurgents Oct. 3 during a daylong battle near the Afghan city of Spin Buldak, according to officials.
The coalition troops were patrolling when enemy forces attacked them. No coalition troops were wounded or equipment damaged during the engagement. Six enemy troops were wounded during the battle and were taken to Kandahar for medical treatment. One wounded enemy soldier is in stable condition. The others were treated and detained for questioning. In other news from Afghanistan, insurgents launched mortar fire against a coalition outpost in Paktika Province Oct. 3. About 12 to 15 mortar rounds were shot toward the base, but none landed within the camp's perimeter. Another Oct. 3 insurgent mortar attack targeted a coalition base in Khowst. One mortar round fell within the camp's perimeter. There were no coalition injuries or damage to equipment resulting from the attack. Afghan army troops found a weapons cache near Nangalam on Oct. 3. The cache yielded 29 107 mm rockets, seven rocket-propelled-grenade boosters, 210 82 mm rounds, 67 boxes of 14.3 mm rounds, 67 boxes of machine-gun rounds, four boxes of magazines, and a large amount of electrical cord. Also, Orgun-e villagers found another weapons cache Oct. 3 and turned in the ordnance to local Afghan police. The cache contained 53 rockets, one 14.5 mm machine gun, one recoilless rifle, 46 recoilless-rifle rounds, two machine guns with 90 boxes of ammunition, 191 mortar rounds, and six RPG rounds. In another incident, an improvised explosive device was found on a bridge in Kandahar on Oct. 3. The IED was disarmed by an explosive-ordnance team and was moved to another area for destruction. Two other weapons caches were discovered Oct. 2 near Farah and Ghazni. Local Afghans turned in the Farah cache to coalition troops. That cache contained six surface-to-air missiles, 1,015 cases of ammunition, 1,400 mortars, 50 RPGs, 40 82 mm rounds, 5,000 machine-gun rounds, 18 mines, 58 fuses, 2 anti-aircraft guns, one machine gun, and 10 cases of unserviceable ammunition. The Ghazni cache contained 1,000 RPG rounds, 50 anti-personnel mines, 80 82 mm mines, 5 anti-tank mines, and machinegun cases. An explosive-ordnance team was tasked to destroy the weapons and ammunition. (Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)
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