Shortly before the Combined Joint Task Force-82 transferred authority to the incoming 101st Airborne Division on April 10, CJTF-82 shared a list of the most wanted insurgent operatives’ active in the areas under Regional Command East with The Long War Journal. The list is separate from the 12-most wanted Taliban list drafted up by the US military in October 2007. The current list includes a plethora of regional, provincial and district level insurgent commanders and criminal kingpins wanted for facilitating attacks against Coalition and Afghan National Security Forces. The list marks the first glimpse into the ground-level hunt for key insurgent commanders in areas such as Logar and Laghman provinces.
Many of the names are unfamiliar, and their photographs are either classified or nonexistent. More than half of the listed fugitives were last seen in various locations in Pakistan; only nine listed individuals were known to be hiding inside Afghanistan. Oddly enough, despite repeated calls by the US military describing the Haqqani Network as the most serious threat to Afghan security in the east, the network’s rank and file and senior leadership did not appear on the list obtained by The Long War Journal.
Phil Peterson and Bill Roggio contributed to this report.
2 Comments
Will this TF be led by the 101st? Or will they be part of a Spec. Ops TF, providing security and firepower? This is thier AO, can you answer this Bill? It would be another notch in thier belts if they can bag a big fish. They have thier own recon and surveillance units, so they can gather intel. I really hope they do a bang up job. I expect them to.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 05/27/2008 News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.