50 captured at Afghan compound

Associated Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Troops from the United States and its allies captured 50 people Friday from a compound that intelligence sources said was a refuge for senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders. One person was killed in a shootout during the operation, U.S. military officials said.

Officials were trying to determine the identities of the detainees. "We don’t yet know exactly who we have," said Capt. Steve O’Connor, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

"Items of intelligence value were found," along with weapons and a large amount of cash," O’Connor said.

No coalition soldiers were hurt in the raid, said Maj. A.C. Roper, a U.S. military spokesman at the base in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

Two other suspected members of al-Qaida or Taliban were wounded in the raid, which began at 1 a.m. and stretched over eight hours. The compound is west of Kandahar.

Roper said 150 soldiers were involved in the mission — half from the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne based in Fort Campbell, Ky., and half from special operations forces. He would not specify whether other countries contributed troops.

The attack "was based on development of existing intelligence" that the compound was "suspected of providing sanctuary to senior Taliban and/or al-Qaida leadership," Roper said.

"Based on that intelligence, we decided to take action," he said. "Several people attempting to flee the area fired at coalition forces, who responded appropriately, killing one. Almost 50 people were taken into custody."

Roper said experts were evaluating the confiscated items.

"Since we are conducting interrogations and we are evaluating intelligence information, I don’t want to put a value on it yet until we completed that information gathering — that interrogation," he said.