Article

2020-01-12 Afghanistan

Two US Service Members Killed in Kandahar

[ToloNews] Two US service members were killed and two others were maimed in action on Saturday in an IED explosion in Kandahar province on Saturday, the Resolute Support confirmed in a statement.

The service members were conducting operations as part of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
's Resolute Support Mission, the statement read.

In accordance with US Department of Defense policy, the names of the service members killed in action will be withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete, the statement added.

Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
has grabbed credit for the blast.

An Nahar adds:

The incident took place in Dand district of southern Kandahar province, where a bomb hit a US armoured vehicle, provincial police spokesman Jamal Nasir Barkzai told AFP.

"Foreign forces were patrolling near the Kandahar airport when they were hit by a blast. We don't have the details of the casualties because they have cordoned off the area," he said.

A NATO Resolute Support spokesman in southern Afghanistan confirmed the incident and said the situation was being assessed.

Violence in Afghanistan usually recedes as the cold winter sets in but this year the Taliban have pushed forward with their operations despite heavy snowfall in the mountains -- and despite their negotiations with the US for a deal that would see American troops leave the country.

According to parts of the deal made public so far, the Pentagon would pull about 5,000 of its 13,000 or so troops from five bases across Afghanistan, provided the Taliban sticks to its security pledges.

The insurgents have said they will renounce Al-Qaeda, fight the Islamic State group and stop jihadists using Afghanistan as a safe haven.

Last year was the deadliest for US forces in Afghanistan since combat operations officially finished at the end of 2014, highlighting the challenging security situation that persists.

More than 2,400 US troops have been killed in combat in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in October 2001.

Posted by trailing wife 2020-01-12 01:05|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top
File under: Taliban

#1 Who made the IED?

Posted by gorb 2020-01-12 01:17|| 2020-01-12 01:17|| Front Page Top

#2 More importantly, what will the US respond be?

Posted by Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2020-01-12 04:11|| 2020-01-12 04:11|| Front Page Top

#3 Daily Mail story most likely the same story, i.e. "Two U.S. Service Members Killed in Kandahar."

Posted by JohnQC 2020-01-12 10:25|| 2020-01-12 10:25|| Front Page Top

#4 IEDs have been around a long time; long before our involvement in Afghanistan. They will continue to be a problem for a long time. IEDs are low-cost terrorists' approaches to terrorism and war.

IED detection, prevention of activation, rendering safe, and explosion are ways of dealing with them. Dogs have been effective in detection. Tech approaches to dealing with IEDS.

Posted by JohnQC 2020-01-12 10:43|| 2020-01-12 10:43|| Front Page Top

#5 Most taliban IEDs are ANFO type devices using NH₄NO₃ (ammonium nitrate) and fuel oil mix to create an incendiary effect. In 2014, when NH₄NO₃ became unavailable for some time, there was an occasional appearance of more complex devices; even directional booby traps and such, using material from unexploded ordnance and russian grenades. But the composition could be traced and suppliers easily stopped. You killed all the suppliers and effectively stopped the complex IED makers because their sources were within Afghanistan, Iran and Europe.

Some resourceful guys learnt to use TATP obtained from hydrogen peroxide and acetone to produce bigger explosions. These are yet very tough to obtain, and only the very resourceful or trained guys use them They often end up blowing up themselves as it's sensitive stuff not meant for sasquatch hands. But the Afghan taliban are still dependent on NH₄NO₃ which is conveniently supplied from factories in the 'Stain.

While Karzai's gummint ordered a blanket ban on all chemical fertilizer in Afghanistan, the stuff still flows into Kandahar from Pakistain via Chaman on route N25, from Quetta Yupp ! That again.

Since Obama's time, Paki ammonium nitrate has been known to be used for taliban IEDs. The CIA knows everything, have known for quite some time. The owners of some firms actually have offices and residences in America ! Several investigations and fact-finding missions have been sent to Afghanistan, but the Pak side of the investigation was left to the pakistain gummint. I posted this info before, here it is again. It may not cover everything though, and I can't vouch for its accuracy.

Posted by Dron66046 2020-01-12 11:39|| 2020-01-12 11:39|| Front Page Top

#6 A cursory web search on the Fatima group, or Pakarab Fertilizers + IEDs could yield more info. Of course it'll be dated. For some reason, neither Langley not the media want Trump or Americans to think about this too much.

Posted by Dron66046 2020-01-12 11:52|| 2020-01-12 11:52|| Front Page Top

#7 TATP is the one “you can mix up in the bathtub of your mother,” according to one famous issue of the Al Qaeda monthly magazine some years back. But it’s touchy stuff, prone to blowing up if jiggled. Lots of work accident claims submitted in Gaza by grieving widows rejected by the cold-hearted insurance company bean counters. There aren’t many old semi-pro bomb makers, even among those with laboratory training.

Posted by trailing wife 2020-01-12 14:01|| 2020-01-12 14:01|| Front Page Top

#8 I posted this info before, here it is again. It may not cover everything though, and I can't vouch for its accuracy.

If you read it on the web, it must be true.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-01-12 17:25|| 2020-01-12 17:25|| Front Page Top

#9 Fluorescing N plumes from munitions?

Spectral resolved measurement of the nitrogen fluorescence emissions in air induced by electrons

Posted by Skidmark 2020-01-12 17:32|| 2020-01-12 17:32|| Front Page Top

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