New Afghan Army unit nabs Taliban bomber

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- During a recent mission in the Afghanistan's Nangahar province, a new battalion of the Afghan National Army apprehended a well-known Taliban facilitator.

During the two-day mission 30 miles southwest of Jalalabad in the Sherzad district of Nangahar province, the Afghan National Army during their first operation partnered with the Afghan national police advised by coalition forces and detained Haji Shir Khan, according to the American Forces Press Service.

Haji Shir Khan is allegedly responsible for numerous improvised explosive attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in the province.

The Afghan National Army unit also detained two suspected Taliban extremists during the operations and found two weapons caches containing rocket-propelled-grenade rounds and an anti-tank mine, among other military paraphernalia.

“The commandos represent a bright future for the Afghan national security forces, and it’s no surprise after all of their training that they were successful in today’s mission,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman, in a statement. “Operations such as this one demonstrate that the (Afghan National Police), and now the commandos, are authority figures to the residents of Nangahar and can rapidly conduct synchronized missions against the enemies of peace and stability.“

Additionally, Afghan and coalition forces killed several suspected militants in Ghazni province and detained another Friday.