Afghan National Police and their Australian Special Forces partners have killed four insurgents, including two district level commanders, during an operation in Uruzgan on 24 June 2011.
The insurgent commanders, Mullah Ghulam and Mullah Gharfour, were killed by members of the Provincial Response Company - Uruzgan (PRC-U) and the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) during an exchange of fire in the Shahid-e Hasas district.
The Commanding Officer of the SOTG (who cannot be named for operational security reasons) said the removal of these insurgent commanders will have an immediate and significant effect on the ability for insurgents to operate in northern and western Uruzgan.
“Mullah Ghulam was deputy to the Khod Valley
The other senior insurgent commander, Mullah Gharfour, was also an expert in the construction and emplacement of IEDs, and trained numerous insurgents in southern Afghanistan
Both of these men had direct links to the senior regional insurgent leadership.
“The removal from the battlefield of these insurgent leaders will be a substantial blow to insurgent command and control and will reduce their ability to wage attacks against Afghan and ISAF forces in this area,” the Commanding Officer of the SOTG said.
One insurgent fighter was also detained in the operation.
No Afghan or Australian troops were wounded or killed during the mission.