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This would make the US as well as the British troops in Helmand their targets, wouldn't it?
Taleban make 'invisible' bombs
Taleban make 'invisible' bombs
3 Aug [Scotsman] EXPERT bomb-makers in Helmand, Afghanistan's most violent province, are pioneering new types of "invisible" devices, made with carbon rods and glass, instead of metal pressure plates and nails.
Britain's most senior bomb-disposal officer in Afghanistan has warned that insurgents have started manufacturing "low-metal" devices and placing them more "cleverly" this summer. The Taleban's latest tactics mean it is almost impossible to spot the improvised explosives devices (IEDs) using British military metal detectors. ....
"They are very skilful," said Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Duncan, Chief of Staff of Nato's counter-IED branch.
"Where before they were going for single targets, now they are putting them out in multiples and they are being clever. They will put out 'obvious' IEDs and then lots of less obvious secondary devices close by, to catch the first responders." ....
Most of the IEDs in Helmand are "victim-operated" pressure plates, traditionally made from two saw blades wired to a battery and a main charge. Pressure on the saw blades forcing them to touch connects an electrical circuit and detonates the explosives.
Previously, insurgents put nails, nuts and bolts on top of the explosives to increase the shrapnel. The buried metal made the bombs easier for soldiers to find and defuse.
Now they are using tiny carbon rods which are found inside AA batteries as contacts, instead of the saw blades, and glass instead of nails to create shrapnel. Some of the devices are triggered by trip-wires.
However, Nato officials insist they are actually finding 20 per cent more of the total Taleban bombs than ever before. And for each detonation, 15-20 per cent fewer soldiers are getting injured, Lt-Col Duncan said, thanks to new equipment and tactics.
The kit soldiers use to detect the bombs is kept secret for their own protection.
Most of the bombs are made in small factories across Helmand. The military say they are focused on disrupting the IED networks further up the chain. "Killing bomb emplacers is not going to solve the problem," Lt-Col Duncan added. "You can find the guy on the street and arrest him, but that's the tip of the iceberg. The financiers and the facilitators are the people you need to get. It's Special Branch-type operations, but in green uniform rather than blue."
The easy availability of batteries and other electrical components means efforts to stem the insurgents' supply lines have been largely futile. Afghanistan is awash with leftover mines and unexploded ordnance from more than three decades of fighting. Insurgents often wire their IEDs to old Soviet explosives, or manufacture home-made explosives from fertiliser.
Britain's most senior bomb-disposal officer in Afghanistan has warned that insurgents have started manufacturing "low-metal" devices and placing them more "cleverly" this summer. The Taleban's latest tactics mean it is almost impossible to spot the improvised explosives devices (IEDs) using British military metal detectors. ....
"They are very skilful," said Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Duncan, Chief of Staff of Nato's counter-IED branch.
"Where before they were going for single targets, now they are putting them out in multiples and they are being clever. They will put out 'obvious' IEDs and then lots of less obvious secondary devices close by, to catch the first responders." ....
Most of the IEDs in Helmand are "victim-operated" pressure plates, traditionally made from two saw blades wired to a battery and a main charge. Pressure on the saw blades forcing them to touch connects an electrical circuit and detonates the explosives.
Previously, insurgents put nails, nuts and bolts on top of the explosives to increase the shrapnel. The buried metal made the bombs easier for soldiers to find and defuse.
Now they are using tiny carbon rods which are found inside AA batteries as contacts, instead of the saw blades, and glass instead of nails to create shrapnel. Some of the devices are triggered by trip-wires.
However, Nato officials insist they are actually finding 20 per cent more of the total Taleban bombs than ever before. And for each detonation, 15-20 per cent fewer soldiers are getting injured, Lt-Col Duncan said, thanks to new equipment and tactics.
The kit soldiers use to detect the bombs is kept secret for their own protection.
Most of the bombs are made in small factories across Helmand. The military say they are focused on disrupting the IED networks further up the chain. "Killing bomb emplacers is not going to solve the problem," Lt-Col Duncan added. "You can find the guy on the street and arrest him, but that's the tip of the iceberg. The financiers and the facilitators are the people you need to get. It's Special Branch-type operations, but in green uniform rather than blue."
The easy availability of batteries and other electrical components means efforts to stem the insurgents' supply lines have been largely futile. Afghanistan is awash with leftover mines and unexploded ordnance from more than three decades of fighting. Insurgents often wire their IEDs to old Soviet explosives, or manufacture home-made explosives from fertiliser.
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