The IEDs of Afghanistan

The past few days, we have lost 14 U.S. troops to IEDs in the Afghanistan War and if you review the cause of death of NATO troops in the entire war, the percentage due to IEDs is absolutely incredible. Now, this isn't new to us since we saw a similar deadliness in the Iraq War but I wanted to try and find more info on just what is going on in Afghanistan and why the death toll seems to be increasing.

I found this article from a few weeks ago at The Guardian which deals with soldiers from the British army that I think brings to light a good deal about how the Taliban are using IEDs and how the technology and tactics keeps evolving to keep inflicting the harm on our troops - I recommend you read the entire article.

Here are a few excerpts:

The last five years have seen a sharp increase in the use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Afghanistan. According to figures leaked last month, the number of IEDs increased from 308 in 2004 to 7,155 last year; a total of 16,000 were planted in those five years, killing at least 7,000 Afghan civilians. These devices have also caused the vast majority of all British and American deaths during the conflict, and are seriously hampering Nato's operations in the country. Of the IEDs recorded in last month's figures, 8,582 were found and cleared, but 7,553 exploded. The threat is so high that every patrol must be led by a soldier sweeping with a metal detector. However, the insurgents have started cutting down on the metal they use in the devices, making them harder to detect and more likely to have their desired effect.

The bombs are generally low-tech: simple, easy to make and deadly. The insurgents use whatever is to hand. The most common IEDs use what is called a "pressure plate": an explosive, often farming fertiliser, is housed in a yellow cooking oil container; the trigger is two strips of metal that are then attached to electrical wires and batteries. When the two pieces of metal are pressed together – by a soldier's foot or vehicle wheel – an electrical circuit is formed, causing the bomb to explode.

When he says "targeting specific people", Woody means himself. He knows bomb disposal experts are a prime target for the Taliban; the bomb-makers are constantly devising new methods to catch them out. The second IED of the day, for example, has a normal pressure-plate mechanism – but hidden under a stone nearby is also a pressure release trigger, working in completely the opposite way. If Woody had lifted the stone to clear it while working on the IED, the release of pressure would have detonated the bomb.

Now, I've got some of my own ideas on why we are seeing such a spike in IED attacks in the War in Afghanistan...unproven as they are, I think they make sense. First, with the influx of al Qaeda elements coming to Afghanistan and Pakistan from the Iraqi theater, along came some of the expertise on planting roadside bombs that the terror group had tested in the Iraq War. Second, when the U.S. and NATO decided to ground much of the aircraft in Afghanistan, due to the concern over civilian casualties and the changes in ROE, we lost a lot of surveillance and strikes against IED emplacers by the likes of AH-64's - how many videos did you see from the Iraq War of Apache crews watching al Qaeda IED emplacers and the subsequent attacks on them....and how many of these same vids have you seen from Afghanistan? And finally, the sheer size of the War in Afghanistan, geographically, gives the Taliban a huge edge - our troops are much more spread out and monitoring roadways is next to impossible.

One other thing I want to mention here - and that is the level of intelligence captured from the civilian population. As the Iraq War started turning our way, we saw many of the Iraqi tribes side with the American troops and the intel they brought us concerning IED crews, suspicious activity and the location of the al Qaeda commanders who generally do the IED training, was invaluable. We haven't seen nearly this cooperation from the Afghan civilians. Yet.

Afghanistan: 'Don't get too close - if he goes up you'll go with him'


Guardsman James Stephenson is just 20 years old, but when the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards leave their base in the Babaji area of Helmand, he leads the patrol. Stephenson's nickname is "Steveo", but on duty in Afghanistan, everyone calls him "Vallon Man". The Vallon is the metal detector used to sweep for bombs – and being a Vallon Man is one of the army's most dangerous jobs.

The last five years have seen a sharp increase in the use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Afghanistan. According to figures leaked last month, the number of IEDs increased from 308 in 2004 to 7,155 last year; a total of 16,000 were planted in those five years, killing at least 7,000 Afghan civilians. These devices have also caused the vast majority of all British and American deaths during the conflict, and are seriously hampering Nato's operations in the country. Of the IEDs recorded in last month's figures, 8,582 were found and cleared, but 7,553 exploded. The threat is so high that every patrol must be led by a soldier sweeping with a metal detector. However, the insurgents have started cutting down on the metal they use in the devices, making them harder to detect and more likely to have their desired effect.

In February, Stephenson's friend Lance Corporal Darren Hicks, from the same battalion, stepped on an IED and was killed while patrolling as a Vallon Man. Five of the battalion's soldiers have died during this tour and a further six have lost their legs – all victims of IEDs. Stephenson admits to feeling terrified each time he leaves the gates of the patrol base.

The patrol is on the move. An Afghan interpreter with the Coldstreams monitors the Taliban's radio transmissions and relays what they say to the company commander – everyone can hear. The soldiers pause at a farm compound and, over the radio, the insurgents say they have laid IEDs to the south of the patrol and prepared an ambush to the west. Stephenson looks nervous. With a pistol in one hand and a metal detector in the other, he steps out of the compound to face whatever is waiting.

His instinct must be to move quickly, but Stephenson can go only at walking pace, otherwise he risks missing the metal signal for a bomb. Everyone must follow him – at a distance. A shouted warning from the sergeant major leaves no room for doubt: "Don't get too close to Vallon Man – if he goes up you'll go with him."

The patrol reaches a stream and clambers down into the water. Any hope that the steep banks can offer protection is quickly dispelled by the shrill noise of incoming fire. Soldiers dive for cover, but it's over in moments. The Coldstreams call them "shoot and scoots". Outgunned by Nato's superior firepower, the Taliban have changed tactics. Now they are fighting the war with IEDs and hit-and-run attacks. During their three-day patrol, the Coldstreams are ambushed around 20 times.

Moving off, I look at Vallon Man just ahead of me. Standing bolt upright he sets off again – out front and alone.

Once an IED is found, the task of dealing with it is handed over to a bomb disposal expert like Staff Sergeant Gareth Wood. It takes eight to 10 years to train a bomb disposal specialist to the standard required to work in Helmand – longer than a doctor or a barrister – and among candidates there's only a 14% pass rate. The work in Afghanistan is considered so dangerous and stressful that bomb disposal operators will be asked to do only one six-month deployment to the region. Their first tour will also be their last.

"Woody" finished the final part of his advanced training in 2008. In September of that year, Warrant Officer Gary O'Donnell became the first British bomb disposal operator to be killed in Afghanistan. For Woody, the news was a stark reality check: "The first killed was a real shock, because up to then we had always beaten the bomb. No one had been killed [by an IED] since the 80s."

A further three bomb disposal specialists have since died, along with five Royal Engineers searchers. Usually, when soldiers call in an IED find, the exact location is unclear, and there may be other IEDs in the immediate area. A Royal Engineer search team goes in first, to identify and confirm the location of the IED, and to find a safe path for the bomb disposal specialist to reach it. Sergeant Kevin O'Dwyer heads the search team: "It's not been a good tour for us – terrible. The losses among the counter-IED force are phenomenal." O'Dwyer's best friend was one of those killed. He helped carry the coffin at his funeral.