Taliban Debut New IED Code-named "Omar" That Cannot Be Detected

Just ahead of the major offensive that the U.S. and NATO will launch in Helmand province in Afghanistan, the Taliban are announcing the debut of an IED that they claim uses materials that make it undetectable by normal methods utilized. From the article at AFP:

But the Taliban claimed -- ahead of a major assault by foreign troops on the southern Taliban stronghold of Helmand province -- to have created a new IED using materials that make them undetectable.
The militia, which is leading an insurgency to bring down the Western-backed Afghan government and evict foreign troops, routinely exaggerates its claims.
The network's spokesman, who identified himself as Yousuf Ahmadi, said the new bomb had been named after Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahed, believed to be based in Pakistan.
"Omar is our latest weapon in the war against the invaders," he told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"It's a very effective bomb, it can't be detected by mine-sweeping vehicles and it causes more deaths," he said.

My take on this? I call Bullshit. The Taliban have been effective with IED's in Afghanistan, in my view, because of the vast size of the battlefield and the terrain - it's simple...with the vast size of Afghanistan in comparison to Iraq, it's next to impossible to spot these guys placing IEDs. Remember all of the vids that came out of Apaches and predator drones taking out IED emplacers in Iraq? Well, the enemy there was confined to specific areas so surveillance of their activities was much easier due to the concentration. If Afghanistan, the Taliban are so spread out over such a large area that they can place IED's all day long without hearing a single rotor or drone engine.

What this announcement says to me is that the Taliban are real worried about what is coming down the pike this week in Helmand province and this is their version of propaganda to help slow down that operation's progress.

At the same time, I do disagree with the idea of announcing this offensive weeks in advance - I understand it would be effective to have the Taliban just up and leave but what we have done is give them two weeks or so to literally plant hundreds of IED's which they probably would not have without knowledge of the operation.

Taliban claim to debut new bomb 'Omar'

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The Taliban claimed Tuesday to have developed a new bomb nicknamed Omar after their fugitive leader and which they say is impossible Western mine sweepers to detect.
The biggest killer of Western troops in Afghanistan are home-made bombs, known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, which the Taliban deploy to wide effect in their eight-year insurgency and detonate by remote control.
Western military intelligence officials have said most foreign troop deaths, which hit a record 520 last year, are caused by IEDs.
But the Taliban claimed -- ahead of a major assault by foreign troops on the southern Taliban stronghold of Helmand province -- to have created a new IED using materials that make them undetectable.
The militia, which is leading an insurgency to bring down the Western-backed Afghan government and evict foreign troops, routinely exaggerates its claims.
The network's spokesman, who identified himself as Yousuf Ahmadi, said the new bomb had been named after Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahed, believed to be based in Pakistan.
"Omar is our latest weapon in the war against the invaders," he told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"It's a very effective bomb, it can't be detected by mine-sweeping vehicles and it causes more deaths," he said.
He refused to provide more details, saying "it's our military secret" but added that each Omar cost around 100 dollars to make.
"With a 100-dollar mine we are able to destroy the enemy's multi-million-dollar anti-mine vehicles," he claimed, referring to heavily armoured vehicles used in Afghanistan by US and other NATO troops.
Ahamdi charged the "Omar bomb" had already been used in attacks on Western forces, but his claim could not be verified immediately.
Around 113,000 foreign troops are deployed to Afghanistan under US and NATO command fighting a Taliban insurgency that increasingly relies on IEDs and suicide bomb attacks as its tactics have morphed into guerilla warfare.