HILLTOP TALKS - U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Kathryn Miles, Shah Murza, a representative from the Afghan Minister of Agriculture, and Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team members meet with Afghan locals on a hilltop in the Anaba district of Panjshir province, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010. Miles is an engineer and also a member of the provincial team, which is surveying a possible location for a water reservoir. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy WadeUS, Afghan Forces Target Insurgent Leaders In The East -- Long War Journal
In an effort to dismantle the terror networks, Afghan and US forces have killed or detained 23 senior and mid-level Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda leaders in eastern Afghanistan since late last year.
The joint forces killed or captured "23 key insurgents ... known for leading the planning and undertaking of deadly attacks directed towards Afghan citizens, Afghan government officials, ANSF and Coalition forces, as well facilitating the trafficking of fighters, weapons, explosives and money to support their terrorist activities," according to information released by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO command in Afghanistan. The insurgent leaders were reported to have been killed or captured between Nov. 16, 2009, and Dec. 25, 2009.
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My Comment: This is a long list, and it reveals the energy and focus that U.S./Afghan forces are now putting on eliminating the Taliban's leadership circle. These operations also reminds me of what was done in Iraq when the surge was implemented in 2007. The targeted capture and/or killing of insurgent Iraqi leaders took a year to accomplish, but in the end much if not all of the insurgent leadership council and commanders were either dead or in prison.