Afghan police acting on a tip stormed a madrassa in western Farah province seizing 22 Taliban members, according to officials. The raid targeted well known Taliban commander Mullah Hayatullah Khan but was not amongst those arrested. Most of those arrested are teenagers thought to be undertaking suicide bomb indoctrination. Farah province has recently seen an upsurge in Taliban related violence including a spate of suicide bombings and high profile assassinations. The targeting of Mullah Hayatullah Khan and other known commanders is the latest tactic to be widely employed by ISAF and Afghan forces intent on spoiling the TalibanÂ’s military objectives.
Over the last week Taliban commanders have been targeted in Khost, Helmand, Farah, Zabul and Kandahar. A group of Taliban in Kandahar responsible for bombing the Alokozai tribal elder Mullah Naqib was seized during one of these operations. According to an ISAF statement, sub-commander Engineer Majid was shot twice by Afghan police during a fierce clash between militants and police in Khost province. They subsequently arrested him as he fled the battlefield seeking medical treatment at a local health clinic . Last week in Farah, police along with the help of local villagers also killed and captured Taliban commanders attempting to abduct Indian engineers.
ISAF commanders have recently touted their success in targeting Taliban leaders. “The Taliban extremist leadership in the south have been taken off guard by Operation Achilles and are on the defensive at this stage,” said Major General Ton van Loon, an ISAF regional commander. “We have inflicted serious damage to their command and control infrastructure as well as their ability to re-supply.”