Media Room: Media Releases

AFGHAN TROOPS SEIZE BOMB-MAKING CACHES

Afghan National Security Forces, with support from Australian Special Forces and other coalition troops, have uncovered several major bomb-making factories and munitions caches in a town to the east of Tarin Kowt, near the Zabol province border.

The daylight raid on Sunday found more than five tonnes of ammonium nitrate, the key ingredient to the Taliban’s home-made explosives.  While Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are a threat to coalition forces, Afghan civilians are often killed and wounded by indiscriminate IED emplacement.

The raid also seized almost 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 39 rocket-propelled grenades, a grenade launcher and automatic weapons, and a significant amount of IED componentry.

The Deputy Chief of Joint Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Greg Evans, said the cache was a major break-through in disrupting the manufacture of IEDs across the southern and eastern parts of Oruzgan province.

“The 5.3 tonnes of ammonium nitrate could have built several hundred Improvised Explosive Devices.  It is a significant volume of material to be found in one location and its discovery and destruction will disrupt the ongoing road-side bomb emplacement campaign by the Taliban insurgents.”

The combined Afghan National Security Force and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation took a day to clear the almost eight square kilometres of compounds and fields.

Air Vice Marshal Evans said that the removal of explosive material and its improvised components would make life safer for all Afghan people in Oruzgan and for the coalition troops who are supporting the Afghan National Security Forces.

“This operation highlights the commitment of Australian forces in Oruzgan to support the ISAF mission of protecting the population.”

Since January 2007, ISAF estimates that insurgents have caused 80 per cent of the civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Air Vice Marshal Evans said the IED components had been destroyed and operations would continue in a bid to find further caches.

Media notes:

·        AVM Greg Evans is available for interview by telephone between 1-3pm Thursday, 3 September 2009 through Lieutenant Colonel Michael Harris on (02) 6128 4110.

·        High-res imagery is available at www.defence.gov.au/media/download.

Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664