bobdina
07-08-2010, 11:38 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S. is set to deliver $3 billion worth of equipment aimed at countering Taliban-made crude bombs used in the Afghan war, a U.S. official said July 8.
Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have become the main weapon used against international and Afghan forces fighting to end an insurgency increasingly seen as bogged down in favor of the Taliban.
Related Topics
The equipment was "at least doubling" current counter-IED capacity as forces did not have all they needed to take on an escalating threat, said Ashton Carter, U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The new equipment, including tethered surveillance blimps, heavily armored vehicles and detection machinery such as robots and mine detectors, would arrive in Afghanistan in the coming months, he told reporters.
Carter said the equipment would be accompanied by about 1,000 counter-IED experts, including laboratory technicians, intelligence analysts and law enforcement officials.
"This is an enormous plug of extra effort," he said, adding that the equipment would be shared with coalition and Afghan forces.
IEDs are the biggest threat facing troops engaged in the war in Afghanistan, now well into its ninth year.
They are easy and cheap to produce, often using ammonium nitrate fertilizer that is produced in Pakistan and trucked across the border into Afghanistan, Carter said.
The bombs are difficult to detect, often buried by roadsides and remotely detonated to devastating effect.
Many of the 341 foreign soldiers killed so far this year have died as a result of IED attacks. Others often suffer life-changing injuries.
NATO reported two more deaths of foreign soldiers July 8, one of them in an IED attack in southern Afghanistan.
A June U.N. report marked an "alarming" 94 percent increase in IED incidents in the first four months of this year compared with 2009, as the military says intensifying efforts against the Taliban are being matched by more attacks.
Afghan authorities had banned the use of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and were tightening the border to restrict its flow into Afghanistan, Carter said.
"As Pakistan itself begins to suffer from the same homemade IEDs... their willingness to act is growing. This is a very, very welcome sign given how much of this stuff comes over the border from Pakistan," he said.
Pakistan has long been implicated in the violence in Afghanistan, with the government's intelligence arm and its military blamed for supporting and collaborating with militant groups based on its side of the border.
Afghanistan's national security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta this week called on Pakistani authorities to take action against the groups, which he said included al-Qaida, the Taliban and the Haqqani network.
Afghan officials have blamed a number of major attacks on militant groups that have carved out havens in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt.
Carter attributed a recent spike in casualties among international troops to greater efforts against the insurgents.
"It is fair to say we have been intensifying our operations so much in the last few months, this is the cause of the lion's share of increased IED activity," Carter said.
June saw more than 102 foreign troops deaths, a monthly record since the war began with the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow the Taliban regime.
Detection and controlled detonation of IEDs had risen considerably, he said, though he conceded that the size of the bombs and the magnitude of the damage caused by them was increasing.
The U.S. and NATO have more than 140,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Another 10,000 are to deploy in coming weeks in an effort to drive the Taliban from their strongholds, mainly in southern provinces Helmand and Kandahar.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4700060&c=MID&s=LAN
Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have become the main weapon used against international and Afghan forces fighting to end an insurgency increasingly seen as bogged down in favor of the Taliban.
Related Topics
The equipment was "at least doubling" current counter-IED capacity as forces did not have all they needed to take on an escalating threat, said Ashton Carter, U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The new equipment, including tethered surveillance blimps, heavily armored vehicles and detection machinery such as robots and mine detectors, would arrive in Afghanistan in the coming months, he told reporters.
Carter said the equipment would be accompanied by about 1,000 counter-IED experts, including laboratory technicians, intelligence analysts and law enforcement officials.
"This is an enormous plug of extra effort," he said, adding that the equipment would be shared with coalition and Afghan forces.
IEDs are the biggest threat facing troops engaged in the war in Afghanistan, now well into its ninth year.
They are easy and cheap to produce, often using ammonium nitrate fertilizer that is produced in Pakistan and trucked across the border into Afghanistan, Carter said.
The bombs are difficult to detect, often buried by roadsides and remotely detonated to devastating effect.
Many of the 341 foreign soldiers killed so far this year have died as a result of IED attacks. Others often suffer life-changing injuries.
NATO reported two more deaths of foreign soldiers July 8, one of them in an IED attack in southern Afghanistan.
A June U.N. report marked an "alarming" 94 percent increase in IED incidents in the first four months of this year compared with 2009, as the military says intensifying efforts against the Taliban are being matched by more attacks.
Afghan authorities had banned the use of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and were tightening the border to restrict its flow into Afghanistan, Carter said.
"As Pakistan itself begins to suffer from the same homemade IEDs... their willingness to act is growing. This is a very, very welcome sign given how much of this stuff comes over the border from Pakistan," he said.
Pakistan has long been implicated in the violence in Afghanistan, with the government's intelligence arm and its military blamed for supporting and collaborating with militant groups based on its side of the border.
Afghanistan's national security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta this week called on Pakistani authorities to take action against the groups, which he said included al-Qaida, the Taliban and the Haqqani network.
Afghan officials have blamed a number of major attacks on militant groups that have carved out havens in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt.
Carter attributed a recent spike in casualties among international troops to greater efforts against the insurgents.
"It is fair to say we have been intensifying our operations so much in the last few months, this is the cause of the lion's share of increased IED activity," Carter said.
June saw more than 102 foreign troops deaths, a monthly record since the war began with the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to overthrow the Taliban regime.
Detection and controlled detonation of IEDs had risen considerably, he said, though he conceded that the size of the bombs and the magnitude of the damage caused by them was increasing.
The U.S. and NATO have more than 140,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Another 10,000 are to deploy in coming weeks in an effort to drive the Taliban from their strongholds, mainly in southern provinces Helmand and Kandahar.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4700060&c=MID&s=LAN