Large IED storage and facilitation facility destroyed in Helmand

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

10.16.2010

Courtesy Story

ISAF Joint Command

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan National Security and International Security Assistance force patrol located and destroyed an improvised explosive facilitation and storage compound during an operation in the Sangin district of Helmand province, Saturday.

Multiple intelligence reports and tips from local citizens led the combined force to the compound ascertained to be the primary IED facilitation and storage facility in the district.

The target compound is associated with a senior Sangin-based Taliban leader and facilitator of IEDs and their components along with other lethal aid in the Sangin area. The compound has a historic link with insurgency in the area, and has been regularly used by Taliban leaders and facilitators as a Taliban command and control facility.

Intelligence established the facility was filled with IEDs, but was also thoroughly rigged with explosives to deny access by anyone other than the Taliban; villagers would not go near the building.

The ANSF and ISAF force visually detected numerous booby traps, as well as explosive residue around the facility, to corroborate the intelligence reports. The patrol ensured Afghan civilians in the area were a safe distance from the site and protected them in an enclosed building, before they safely destroyed the building.

Large secondary explosions indicated that the IED cache was sizeable.

"Local Afghans can feel a little more secure knowing these weapons won't harm them or the security forces that are there to protect them," said U.S. Army Col. Rafael Torres, International Assistance Force Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director.

• Date Taken: 10.16.2010
• Date Posted: 10.16.2010 11:39
• Story ID: 58239
• Location: KABUL, AF