KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A Taliban commander and two suspected insurgents were captured in an operation in Afghanistan, military joint command officials said.
The unnamed commander helped provide the Taliban shelter outside Kandahar City, and his capture, along with the killing or capture of several other Taliban leaders in the past month, is impacting Taliban leadership in the region, a statement by the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command said Sunday.
In the past 30 days Afghan and coalition forces have captured 18 Taliban leaders and killed three others, and seized weapons and materials used to make bombs, the military said.
Saturday's capture came after security forces searched a compound northeast of Seyyedan, in the Tarin Kot district, the statement said. No shots were fired in the incident.
Airstrikes and firefights in August killed an Arghandab-based commander called "Aqua," a Zharay district commander called "Zulmai," and "Salim," in the Paktika district.
"Salim was the commander for a Taliban fighter cell in northern Paktika. His cell included improvised explosive device builders and foreign fighters whose actions threatened the safety of the local population," U.S. Army Col. Rafael Torres, ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director said in the statement.
