Inside The Taliban Bombmaking Industry

Afghanistan’s IED Complex: Inside the Taliban Bomb-Making Industry -- Mujib Mashal, Time

“I am here in Kandahar on a short vacation,” says the young man, about 27, who we will call Mullah Kalam. His beard is trimmed neat; he is wearing a black leather jacket and a striped beige turban. Kalam has been a student for five years at a religious seminary across the border in Chaman, in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. Two years into his studies, as U.S. President Barack Obama ordered a surge of 33,000 troops in Afghanistan, much of it focused in the south, Kalam’s family of 11 left their home in Panjwai district, about 40km from the city of Kandahar, to settle in Chaman.

Read more ....

My Comment: Bottom line .... the IEDs that explode in Afghanistan .... a good portion of them have a Pakistani signature.

Pentagon Expects More IED Attacks In Afghanistan

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used by the Taliban is displayed during a lesson on identifying IEDs for Afghan policemen conducted by U.S. army soldiers at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, October 15, 2012.

Pentagon Warns US Troops Could Face More IEDs During Withdrawal -- Voice of America

CAPITOL HILL — A Pentagon official said U.S. and allied forces will face a higher threat from improvised explosive devices, IED’s, as they draw down in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said improvised explosive devices, homemade bombs usually placed on roadsides, have accounted for more than 60 percent of U.S. combat casualties in Afghanistan.

2011 was the deadliest year, with more than 1,900 U.S. troops killed or wounded by IEDs.

Read more ....

More News On The Growing Problem Of IEDs In Afghanistan

3-star: More IEDs likely amid Afghan drawdown -- Army Times
Top general expects IED problem to rise in Afghanistan -- CNN
Pentagon warns of higher bomb threat in drawdown -- AP
US troops may face more IED attacks in Afghanistan -- Khaama Press
US presses Pakistan on bomb fertilizer -- International News
Pakistan must do more to stop flow of IEDs: Barbero -- Express Tribune
US Senator warns Pakistan of inaction against IEDs -- The Hindu
Senators Examine Terrorist Use of IEDs -- CSpan
Pakistan: Ally or Killer? -- Mark Thompson, Time

Afghanistan's IED 'Whisperer'

SOUTHERN SHORSURAK, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan-Explosive ordnance disposal Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 destroy an improvised explosive device cache found by Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, in an abandoned compound east of their newly established observation post in Southern Shorsurak, Helmand province, Afghanistan, during Operation New Dawn, June 20, 2010. While patrolling the Marines found two directional fragmentation improvised explosive devices weighing 35 pounds each, 15 feet of detonation cord and 15 pounds of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder. Operation New Dawn is a joint operation between Marine Corps units and the Afghanistan National Army to disrupt enemy forces, which have been using the sparsely populated region between Marjah and Nawa as a safe haven. Wikipedia

'IED Whisperer' A Lifesaver In Afghanistan -- Seattle Times

Staff Sgt. Kelly Rogne, who serves with a battalion from Joint Base Lewis McChord, is known as the "IED whisperer" for his ability to find the makeshift bombs that have extracted such a deadly toll in Afghanistan.

BABINEK, Afghanistan — Staff Sgt. Kelly Rogne walked down a dusty village road, rhythmically swinging a metal detector that resembled an oversized hockey stick.

He led a column of more than 20 soldiers past deep-green fields of marijuana that surround this village in Panjwai district, traditional homeland of the Taliban.

To defend this turf, Taliban fighters have seeded Babinek and other areas with dense concentrations of bombs, creating one of the most perilous patrol grounds U.S. soldiers have encountered during more than 11 years of war in Afghanistan.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is not a job that I would apply for .... but thank God we have people who do.

Afghan Contractor Fraud Puts U.S. Soldiers At Risk

Aftermath of IED blast in Iraq, 2007 (Wikimedia/US Army)

Bomb Risk To U.S. Troops Heightened By Contractor Fraud -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Investigators are warning U.S. commanders in Afghanistan about a heightened risk of attack because of shoddy work by an Afghan contractor paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to help strengthen defenses against Taliban bombings.

The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, said in a letter released Thursday that drains or pipes thought to have been sealed to prevent the Taliban from planting bombs were still accessible to the insurgents.

It wrote in the October 10 letter to top U.S. commanders, a redacted version of which was released to the media, that although one particular region was potentially exposed "we are concerned that this problem may be more widely spread throughout Afghanistan."

Read more ....

More News On How Afghan Fraud Is Endangering U.S Troops

Report: Contract fraud puts U.S. troops at risk of IEDs -- USA Today
Afghan 'fraud' puts Nato troops at risk, US report warns -- BBC
Afghan contract fraud puts troops at risk -- Salon
SIGAR: U.S. Troops In Afghanistan At Greater Risk Of IED Attacks Due To Contractor Fraud -- Huffington Post

My Comment: Fraud that is endangering U.S. lives in Afghanistan .... why does this not surprise me.

Has The U.S. Lost The IED War In Afghanistan?

How The U.S. Quietly Lost The IED War In Afghanistan -- Gareth Porter, IPS

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 2012 (IPS) - Although the surge of “insider attacks” on U.S.-NATO forces has dominated coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2012, an even more important story has been quietly unfolding: the U.S. loss of the pivotal war of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to the Taliban.

Some news outlets have published stories this year suggesting that the U.S. military was making “progress” against the Taliban IED war, but those stories failed to provide the broader context for seasonal trends or had a narrow focus on U.S. fatalities. The bigger reality is that the U.S. troop surge could not reverse the very steep increase in IED attacks and attendant casualties that the Taliban began in 2009 and which continued through 2011.

Read more ....

My Comment: The fact that the Taliban are still using IEDs tells me that from their perspective the IED is an incredibly effective weapon .... and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.

First Person IED Blast Video

This First Person IED Blast Video Shows Everyday Life For US Troops In Afghanistan -- Business Insider

Aside from being killed by the Afghan troops they're tasked with training, the number one cause of death for U.S. troops in Afghanistan is IEDs.

Improvised explosive devices can be made from virtually anything, detonated in any number of ways, and are nearly impossible to detect. The Taliban managed to lay 16,000 IEDs last year alone, and should exceed that number this year.

Read more ....

My Comment: The video was uploaded last year. No info on the medical condition of the soldier .... I can only hope that he is OK

The Afghan Taliban Are Starting To Use Bigger Bombs

U.S. military vehicles in Kuwait being returned to the U.S. (Army photograph)

Army’s Vehicles Not Tough Enough For Bombs -- Washington Times

The July 8 roadside explosion that killed six Army soldiers in Afghanistan has analysts worried that the Taliban are turning to bigger homemade bombs to take down the best armored U.S. vehicles.

What is particularly troubling to the military is that the enemy was able to penetrate the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, whose V-shaped hull disperses a blast away from the troops inside.

A military source said in an interview that the July 8 bomb likely was a huge fertilizer-based homemade device hidden in a culvert close to where the vehicle passed. An enemy tactic is to place a bomb underneath or alongside a road and detonate it with a remote electronic signal, such as from a cellphone.

The command in Kabul is generally tight-lipped about how the Taliban, al Qaeda and other insurgents use homemade bombs.

Read more ....

My Comment: Casualty rates in Afghanistan from IEDs has decreased this year .... a trend that the Taliban have probably noticed and are now acting to reverse.