ANSF, IASF combine efforts to prevent VBIED attack

LOGAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

12.23.2010

Courtesy Story

Combined Joint Task Force 101

By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Matt Meadows

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - A concerned Afghan citizen alerted Afghan security officials and International Security Assistance Force to a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device near Wardak province’s border with Kabul Province Dec. 21.

The Wardak resident witnessed a suspected vehicle-borne IED following another vehicle through the village of Darrah Sadmara in Wardak Province. He saw the vehicles travelling north toward Kabul and stop on the side of the road just before reaching an Afghan National Police checkpoint entering Kabul Province, according to the eyewitness’ account. After the driver of the suspected vehicle-borne IED exited the vehicle and fled the scene with the driver of the other car, the concerned citizen called ISAF officials.

Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, subsequently requested ANP and National Defense Service officials to secure the site and investigate the possible terrorist actions. The Afghan forces cordoned off the area around the vehicle and contacted the Afghan Ministry of the Interior.

“Without the ever-vigilant NDS and support from the ANP, this vehicle-borne IED could have caused massive casualties in the heart of Kabul,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Frank Peachey, Team 17 counter-IED leader from Lancaster, Pa., working with 4th BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. “The partnership between coalition forces and the (Afghan National Security Force) in Maydan Shahr was key in the success of this operation and should serve as an example to all of Afghanistan.”

When explosive ordnance disposal experts arrived, they used a robot in attempt to verify if the vehicle contained explosives. The EOD personnel detonated a charge that caught the vehicle-borne IED on fire and initiated 13 secondary explosions, completely destroying the vehicle. Later, the explosive experts found a 100 mm projectile and remnants of spent rocket-propelled grenades inside the vehicle-borne IED.

“The most important take away from this event is the fact that the information came from a concerned citizen who had enough faith in the ANSF to report what he knew,” said U.S. Army Capt. Bobbie Ragsdale, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment’s Task Force Slugger information operations officer from New Orleans. “Thanks to the diligence of the ANSF and the courage of at least one concerned citizen, no one was injured; but this incident could have ended very, very differently.

“This brave citizen saved dozens of lives and showed that Afghans are no longer willing to play by the Taliban’s rules,” continued Ragsdale. “They are embracing their government and rejecting terrorism.”

• Date Taken: 12.23.2010
• Date Posted: 12.23.2010 14:22
• Story ID: 62551
• Location: LOGAR PROVINCE, AF