Afghan Army, Police team defeat IED in Gardez

By Spc. Kenneth ScarFebruary 22, 2012

Afghan Police Chief Points Out IED
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army 1st Lt. Clayton Smith, Scout platoon Leader, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Bn., 509th Inf. Regt., Task Force Spartan, looks on as an Afghan Uniform Police chief gestures to where his policemen discovered an IED in a street near the ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Afghan Girls on Watch in Gardez
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Two local girls from Gardez watch from behind a wall near the wood market as an Afghan National Army explosive ordinance disposal unit prepares to detonate an IED, Feb. 18. This was the first time an ANA explosive ordinance disposal unit was called o... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers Inspect Aftermath of Forcibly Destroyed IED in Gardez, Afghanistan
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers with the 3rd Bn., 509th Inf. Regt., Task Force Spartan, EOD unit, inspect the aftermath of a destroyed IED on a street near the wood market in Gardez, Feb. 18. The IED was discovered by local Afghan Uniformed Police and destroyed by an Afgha... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Feb. 21, 2012) -- Signs of progress for the Afghan National Security Forces was made in the icy city of Gardez this week when an improvised explosive device was discovered by Afghan Uniformed Police and destroyed by an Afghan National Army explosive ordnance disposal unit on a muddy street near the wood market.

Finding improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, then disposing of them by Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, units isn't a rare occurrence in this volatile region of the country. What was special about this particular operation was that no coalition forces played a hand in it.

"As far as we know, it's unprecedented," said 1st Lt. Clayton Smith, Scout platoon leader for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Spartan. "They're coordinating this whole thing."

Smith's Scout platoon, along with an EOD squad from Task Force Paladin, joined the Afghan forces to watch and assess only.

The IED was planted on a street frequently patrolled by the scout platoon, and in fact was part of the route for a joint U.S. and AUP presence patrol the day before.

"It was most likely targeted at dismounted troops since they have been coming through here," said Staff Sgt. Tom Maahs, a Soldier with the Task Force Paladin EOD Team that was supervising the action.

Members of the local AUP had discovered the bag with wires emerging from it in a slushy culvert one morning. In a first for this region, and perhaps for the entire province, the AUP didn't call on U.S. forces stationed at nearby Forward Operating Base Gardez to take care of the problem. Instead, they reached out to the newly graduated ANA EOD team stationed at FOB Lightning, which is also nearby.

With visibly excited U.S. Soldiers and dozens of neighborhood children watching from behind AUP cordons, the ANA's 2nd Company, 2nd Kandak EOD squad confidently approached the suspect bag, determined it to be an IED, planted their own explosives around it, cleared the area and signaled a two-minute warning to all spectators.

Then, with a sharp "BAM!" the new Afghan EOD squad destroyed the IED.

"That was definitely an IED," Maahs chuckled knowingly after the blast. "Probably 15 to 20 pounds of explosives in that bag."

The significance of Afghan forces taking the lead on a mission like this was not lost on the Soldiers from the Scout Platoon who will be overseeing the operational area for the next eight months.

"If we weren't there, it wouldn't have made a difference," said Smith. "That's what we've been working for, for 10 years."

The mission was also significant in that it required great cooperation between the ANA and AUP, two organizations that have not worked well together in the past.

"When we heard there was an IED here we made ourselves ready in five minutes," said ANA 1st Lt. Ali Ahmad, platoon commander for 2nd Co., 2nd Kandak EOD team. "We came here and coordinated with the AUP commander and then we blew it up."

"We found the IED and decided to call in the ANA," said AUP Senior Capt. Abdul Kardur. "They came in and blew it up and I felt really good about that, because it was a mission between two Afghan forces."

That should be a common occurrence from now on, said Ahmad, "We train here, so whenever the local AUP have issues like this, we can help."

"I am really proud today, for all the Afghan people, because we showed that we can work together and defeat these threats," said Kardur.

"Today we proved we can take care of business," said Ahmad.

(Spc. Kenneth Scar serves with the 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)

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