Written by By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Whitney Hughes
86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
Paktya Province, Afghanistan – Soldiers from C Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, captured an insurgent October 7th near Yazeen Village in the Zormat District of Paktya Province.
According to Staff Sgt. Robert Brown of Henniker, NH, C Co., 3rd Bn., 172 Inf. Regt., the suspect, who is known to have emplaced several Improvised Explosive Devices in the vicinity of Combat Outpost Zormat, was captured during a village search.
“Getting this guy off the street will certainly make Zormat District a safer place, not just for us, but also for the civilians who travel the same roads we do. IEDs are not just a danger for coalition forces, they also hurt innocent civilians,” said Capt. Dan Newman, C Co. commander, from Merrimack, NH.
During the operation, the Route Clearance Element they were working with also disposed of two IEDs, and found two single action rifles, an AK-47 and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
Afghan National Army and C Co. Soldiers began their search operation at around 4:00am to gain the element of surprise. After apprehending the suspect, the ANA unit took custody of him in order to facilitate his prosecution under Afghan law.