Schweinfurt MPs help contain Jalalabad bank heist

By Mr. Charles K Stadtlander (IMCOM)March 1, 2011

Schweinfurt MPs help contain Jalalabad bank heist
U.S. Soldiers survey the damage after a failed robbery attempt in front of a branch of Kabul Bank in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The heist was attempted by a group of 12 armed bandits, who were surrounded and overwhelmed by a combinat... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

SCHWEINFURT, Germany (Feb. 28, 2011) -- Soldiers from Schweinfurt, Germany's 3rd Platoon of the 630th Military Police Company helped stop a bank robbery in Jalalabad, a city in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

According to details released by the public affairs office of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, 12 armed men entered a Jalalabad branch of Kabul Bank at 11 a.m. on Feb. 19. They quickly took over the four-story building and held several dozen civilians hostage.

Shortly thereafter Afghan National Security Forces surrounded the bank and along with the Afghan Uniformed Police, stormed the building. Elements from the 630th MPs, known as the Mavericks, supported the Afghan National Security Forces, or ANSF, and Afghan Uniformed Police, referred to as AUP, by forming an outer cordon around the bank during the siege.

Maverick Soldiers took small-arms fire from robbers positioned on the building's roof during this time, said Capt. Mariah Perez, commander of the 630th MP Company. In returning the fire, the U.S. Soldiers provided coverage for the ANSF and AUP to take over the first two floors of the building. The Afghan forces evacuated between 40 and 50 hostages while the 630th MPs provided suppressive fire, said Perez, who was on the scene with her Soldiers.

While the Afghan Soldiers and police moved higher in the building, driving the hostage-takers to the top floor, U.S. Soldiers treated the wounded on lower levels and helped evacuate them for further medical attention, said Perez.

The confrontation ended when the Afghan forces cornered the robbers on the fourth floor. The assailants then detonated two vehicle-borne explosive devices outside the building in quick succession, according to the official public affairs release from ISAF. At this point, the MPs cleared the building and waited for U.S. ordnance disposal units to arrive at the scene.

While waiting for these bomb removal squads, two large blasts were heard inside the building. The ISAF release described these as suicide-vest explosive devices, and their detonation marked the end of the robbery and hostage crisis. All remaining attackers inside the bank were either killed or wounded, and despite some injuries, coalition forces suffered no fatalities, according to the report.

The civilian death toll numbered nearly 40, said ISAF Media Operations Officer Maj. T.P. James of the British Army. According to him, the armed men opened fire on innocent civilians.

The Schweinfurt-based MPs' assistance on the scene provided crucial support to allow Afghan forces to retake the bank, officials said, adding the U.S. Soldiers' medical aid and hostage evacuation surely saved lives in what could have been an even deadlier day.

The 3rd Platoon's cooperation and support of both AUP and ANSF forces during the bank robbery is keeping with ISAF's stated mission of supporting the growth in "capacity and capability" of the native Afghan troops. The Schweinfurt Soldiers are slated to end their deployment to southeast Afghanistan during the first half of 2011.

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