Fed: Aust, Afghan troops capture Taliban leader

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2010
Fed: Aust, Afghan troops capture Taliban leader

CANBERRA, April 21 AAP - A Taliban insurgent commander, the suspected mastermind of
bomb attacks which wounded four Australian soldiers in March, has been captured.

Mullah Faqir's capture represented a significant blow to the Taliban's ability to plan
and coordinate attacks against NATO-led coalition forces, says Australian Middle East
commander Major General John Cantwell said.

Australian soldiers and members of the Afghan Provincial Police Reserve detained insurgent
leader Mullah Faqir and four others during a joint clearance on April 12.

Mullah Faqir was a key tactical commander for the insurgency as it attempted to reconstitute
itself in Oruzgan at the beginning of the traditional summer fighting season, General
Cantwell said.

He was known to coalition forces in Afghanistan for a number of years.

"He commanded a significant number of insurgent fighters and coordinated the construction
and placement of improvised explosive devices as well as directing attacks against security
forces in the region," General Cantwell said in statement.

"His capture represents a significant blow to the Taliban's ability to plan and coordinate
attacks against the Mirabad Valley population and against Australian, Afghan and coalition
forces working to bring security to that area."

He is believed to have been behind a series of separate IED attacks which wounded the
four Australian and three Afghan soldiers in late March.

Mullah Faqir was handed over to Dutch Forces and then transferred to Afghan security
services once his identity was confirmed.

He will now be processed within the Afghan justice system.

Three of the other four men detained with him were also transferred to Afghan authorities
for prosecution. The fourth was released.

The capture of Mullah Faqir follows other recent successes by the Australian Special
Operations Task Group.

Last month it and Afghan police captured key insurgent Mullah Janan Andewhal and a
number of others involved in the construction and placement of IEDs.

General Cantwell praised the work of the task group in disrupting the Taliban's IED

network during recent weeks.

They had done a magnificent job supporting their mates in the mentoring task force, he said.

AAP mb/it

KEYWORD: AFGHAN AUST

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