ISAF continues to target what is clearly a major al Qaeda and Qods Force-linked Taliban cell that operates in Farah province in western Afghanistan. From the latest ISAF press release:
Afghan and coalition forces in Farah province detained several suspected insurgents as they targeted a Taliban leader during a joint security operation yesterday. The forces detained the suspects in the Bakwah district as they targeted an Iran-based foreign-fighter and weapons facilitator.
Farah province is well off the beaten path, yet ISAF and Afghan special operations teams have been active in the district since early October. There have been five reported raids in Farah since the beginning of October, and 10 raids total since March 2010. In the course of the 10 raids, ISAF has killed three al Qaeda-linked commanders (Mullah Aktar, Sabayer Sahib, and Mullah Janan), and captured another. All of these commanders are linked to Iran’s Ansar Corps, the Qods Force sub-command that was identified by the US Treasury Department as aiding the Taliban and other foreign terror groups. When I posed that question to ISAF public affairs, I received the following answer:
“Due to operation security concerns we are not able to go into further detail at this time.”
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