ANSF foil insurgent attack, recover hanged villagers in Zangabad

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN

03.16.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. John Mattias 

NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan

PANJWAI DISTRICT, Afghanistan – Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) recovered the bodies of two Afghan males, found hanged to death, while responding to a villager’s tip about hostages held near a school in Gerandai village, Panjwai district, March 16.

Insurgents traveling on motorcycles kidnapped the two villagers on March 14. The two men were tortured for approximately two days before the insurgents hanged them and surrounded the bodies with improvised explosive devices (IED).

The ANSF maneuvered through the area infested with IEDs while dodging rounds from rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles to retrieve the bodies before the sun went down.

Afghan National Security Force members including Abdul Wadood, the Zangabad region’s anti-Taliban movement leader, bypassed suspected IEDs and reduced seven pressure-plated IEDs in the vicinity of the deceased men.

Recovering the deceased allowed friends and family to bury the men according to Islamic customs.

The complex operation to recover the deceased men under hostile conditions took a collective partnership between the Afghan National Army Special Forces, Afghan National Army, Afghan Uniformed Police, and Afghan Local Police.

This combined Afghan force quickly completed the mission after learning of the Taliban’s atrocities and their coordination displayed a partner-force capable of enforcing Afghan laws.

Notes left near the bodies reveal that Taliban leaders operating in the area ordered the executions.

• Date Taken: 03.16.2013
• Date Posted: 03.22.2013 03:26
• Story ID: 103924
• Location: PANJWAI DISTRICT, AF