Afghan and international security forces captured some Taliban commanders and other suspected militants and seized weapons yesterday in Kandahar and Khowst, Afghanistan, military officials reported.

The forces captured a Taliban commander believed to be responsible for homemade bomb attacks during a series of raids in Kandahar. They also detained three other suspects.

Also in Kandahar, a combined force captured another Taliban commander and a small group of militants believed to be responsible for supplying weapons to insurgents.

In Khowst, a combined force detained suspected militants while searching for a Haqqani terrorist network commander.

No Afghan civilians were harmed and no shots were fired in these operations.

Yesterday in southern Afghanistan, International Security Assistance Force members seized about 1,200 pounds of opium after two people in a car stopped and fled from a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan. The opium was destroyed.

Also in the south, Afghan National Army forces discovered a weapons cache consisting of seven rocket-propelled grenades, two grenades and 800 rounds of ammunition. Forces also found a cache containing two AK-47 rifles and three magazines.

In the east, Afghan national security forces discovered a backpack with half a liter of diesel fuel, a small propane tank and several feet of timed fuse, wire coils, 10 blasting caps, five hand grenades and three bags of ammonium nitrate.

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Members of Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines taught more than 40 Philippine National Police officers how to identify homemade bombs during training conducted in Zamboanga del Norte province Dec. 22 and 23, reports AFPS’ Navy Lt.j.g. Theresa Donnelly.

Philippine police spent the first day in the classroom learning about the materials used to make crude improvised explosive devices. On the second day, the bomb squad detonated the explosives during a live-fire exercise at police headquarters.

“The purpose of the class was to teach the bomb squads what to look for when searching a property of someone who is suspected of making explosives,” Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dave Friedman, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, said. “Even typical household products can be used for making IEDs.”

For the past six months task force members have been helping Philippine police improve their ability to better recognize, respond to and counter homemade bombs.

“In our job, we must understand the [chemical] mixtures that can make up these IEDs, so we can counter them,” said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Kenneby Damsid, a bomb technician.

The joint task force ordnance disposal teams are situated at various locations throughout the southern Philippines, assisting the country’s armed forces, the national police and local government units.

The U.S. teams draw upon experience working in the Philippines, and the knowledge gained through multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I am glad we can share our best practices” with the Philippine military and law enforcement officials, said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Smith, an explosive ordnance disposal technician.

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Georgia Air National Guardsmen assigned to the 165th Air Support Operations Squadron have teamed up with 48th Infantry Brigade soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, reports AFPS’ Army Sgt. Tracy J. Smith.

The airmen comprise several Joint Terminal Attack Controller units that will call in combat air support for the 48th’s fighters, said Army Capt. Roger Brooks IV, from Marietta, Ga., the commander of the Georgia JTACs.

Brooks describes his team as an “in-case-of-emergency-break-glass” option.

The controllers serve with the advancing infantry, he said, assessing the situation alongside the combat troops and calling in air support if the situation dictates.

Georgia’s JTACs are divided into three-man teams spread among four battalions conducting battlefield operations.

Air Force Master Sgt. James F. Harnisch, from Savannah, Ga., is the senior noncommissioned officer on Brooks’ team. He has been a support member of the 48th Brigade for nearly six years. He and his fellow airmen have served with the Guard members during various operations.

Harnisch found familiar faces at Forward Operating Base Hughie in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, where the 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment is based. Many of the Georgians previously had served together in Mahmudiyah, Iraq.

“Because of that history, they know what they can expect from us and what we can provide them,” Harnisch said.

The JTACs’ sense of situational awareness allows them to assist with intelligence gathering and provide input based on what they call patterns-of-life observations. These traits are invaluable to the cavalry scouts who patrol the mountains bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Missions in Afghanistan are conducted during unpredictable weather amid formidable terrain. The Georgia airmen and soldiers surmount such difficulties through communication and teamwork.

“The camaraderie is appreciated. With them being from the same state makes them more valuable, because we sort of speak the same language,” said Army Staff Sgt. Stephen Warren, who hails from Douglasville, Ga.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Hammond, Georgia Air National Guard commander, is slated to visit with soldiers and airmen in Afghanistan. During recent stateside pre-deployment training exercises he highlighted the need for airmen and soldiers to speak the same language and work in concert.

“There should be no delineation as to uniform or branch of service,” Hammond said. “The primary focus is to make sure the 48th Brigade is successful during this deployment and we will do everything we can to make sure that they are successful.”

U.S. forces are training and advising Iraqi officials in forensics, evidence collection, human rights and how a legal system is managed in a democracy, reports AFPS’ Christen N. McCluney.

U.S. Marine Col. Darrel Halse serves as the Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission’s rule of law director. He discussed the Iraqi transition from dictatorship to democracy during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable Dec. 23.

Halse said his directorate’s mission is to ensure that Iraq Ministry of Interior leaders and law-enforcement officials become stakeholders in Iraq’s post-Saddam, democratic legal culture.

Halse said his legal advisors make an effort to see that Iraqis preserve their unique cultural attributes as they embrace democratic principles of governance and civil law.

Another important factor, Halse said, is making sure the Iraqi people understand that they have their own laws that are to be followed by all citizens.

One of the greatest accomplishments his directorate takes pride in, Halse said, is moving away from the old Iraqi legal system’s confession-based template for convictions and adopting the new system’s requirement of collecting physical evidence, along with obtaining a confession or a statement.

“That was a huge, huge step forward. I believe in helping the defendant,” Halse said.

Halse’s directorate also is working to ensure that every Iraqi defendant can obtain a court-provided attorney, if needed, and that all defendants are told of their basic legal rights.

“Not all the Iraqi citizens know that,” Halse said. “It’s a change from what they’ve had for 15 to 17 years, or 20 years or more, so it will take time for that to flow down to the average Iraqi citizen walking on the street.”

Iraqi-held detainees accused of a crime now have access to the Iraqi judicial system, Halse said. All detainees, he said, are seen by an investigative judge who will decide whether their case will go to trial and if so, are assigned a defense attorney.

Meanwhile, Iraqi lawyers are “building up their experience” that will be useful as they become defense attorneys, Halse said.

Yet, he said, more work remains to be done to correct inconsistencies in service and overcrowding at Iraqi detention facilities.

“The No. 1 thing that I would like to see worked on within the Ministry of Interior is to build additional facilities or move detainees, so the overcrowding does not become the No. 1 issue,” Halse said.

Halse said his directorate is proud of the legal strides it is making in Iraq, noting it’ll take time for changes to take hold.

“You have to understand that this concept [of law] is so new that it may take up to five years before everyone in Iraq understands that they have these human rights available to them,” Halse said.

U.S. forces are training and advising Iraqi officials in forensics, evidence collection, human rights and how a legal system is managed in a democracy.

U.S. Marine Col. Darrel Halse serves as the Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission’s rule of law director. He discussed the Iraqi transition from dictatorship to democracy during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable Dec. 23.

Halse said his directorate’s mission is to ensure that Iraq Ministry of Interior leaders and law-enforcement officials become stakeholders in Iraq’s post-Saddam, democratic legal culture.

Halse said his legal advisors make an effort to see that Iraqis preserve their unique cultural attributes as they embrace democratic principles of governance and civil law.

Another important factor, Halse said, is making sure the Iraqi people understand that they have their own laws that are to be followed by all citizens.

One of the greatest accomplishments his directorate takes pride in, Halse said, is moving away from the old Iraqi legal system’s confession-based template for convictions and adopting the new system’s requirement of collecting physical evidence, along with obtaining a confession or a statement.

“That was a huge, huge step forward. I believe in helping the defendant,” Halse said.

Halse’s directorate also is working to ensure that every Iraqi defendant can obtain a court-provided attorney, if needed, and that all defendants are told of their basic legal rights.

“Not all the Iraqi citizens know that,” Halse said. “It’s a change from what they’ve had for 15 to 17 years, or 20 years or more, so it will take time for that to flow down to the average Iraqi citizen walking on the street.”

Iraqi-held detainees accused of a crime now have access to the Iraqi judicial system, Halse said. All detainees, he said, are seen by an investigative judge who will decide whether their case will go to trial and if so, are assigned a defense attorney.

Meanwhile, Iraqi lawyers are “building up their experience” that will be useful as they become defense attorneys, Halse said.

Yet, he said, more work remains to be done to correct inconsistencies in service and overcrowding at Iraqi detention facilities.

“The No. 1 thing that I would like to see worked on within the Ministry of Interior is to build additional facilities or move detainees, so the overcrowding does not become the No. 1 issue,” Halse said.

Halse said his directorate is proud of the legal strides it is making in Iraq, noting it’ll take time for changes to take hold.

“You have to understand that this concept [of law] is so new that it may take up to five years before everyone in Iraq understands that they have these human rights available to them,” Halse said.

Image: Life

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