Coalition forces, local government thwart IED in Panjshir

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jillian Torango
  • Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team
PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  Many innocent Afghan lives were saved due to the quick action of a local farmer and the combined efforts of the Panjshir government and the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan, May 23.

A farmer, crossing one of his fields on a Panjshir mountain ridge, found an improvised explosive device and immediately notified someone with a cellular phone who contacted the local chief of police.

Within minutes, Commander Zardot, the Anaba Chief of Police and a former Mujahedeen commander, arrived at the scene, assessed the situation and removed the timer from the device making it ineffective.

Commander Zardot notified Panjshir Provincial Governor Haji Bahlol, who contacted Lt. Col. Russell Kaskel, Panjshir PRT commander.

Once at the site, the small group from the PRT saw the IED, a pair of old Soviet 107mm rockets, lying on the ground and aimed at the PRT's forward operating base. The missiles were still attached to the timing device with the detached battery lying nearby.

A combined team of Afghan National Police and coalition forces secured the site.
The threat was phoned in to Task Force Cincinnatus, the PRT's higher headquarters, who then contacted Task Force Paladin, a counter-IED unit at Bagram Air Field, for support.

Task Force Paladin's explosive ordnance disposal team arrived armed with their PACBOT tactical EOD robot. The PACBOT allows the team to view and handle ordnance without putting any of their team in harm's way. With the robot taking close-up video of the rockets, the EOD team assessed the situation and determined they could secure the IED.

"The threat was very real; however, there was little chance the projectiles would have ever hit their intended target," said Capt. Jayson Stewart, the PRT's intelligence officer. He is deployed from Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

"The EOD assessment was that the trajectory of the rockets would have caused any projectile to hit both the nearby Teacher's Training College and a large group of nomadic Kuchi who are currently traveling through the area," Captain Stewart said. "If this IED had gone off, many, many innocent Panjshir citizens would have been killed."

The Teachers Training College is the only place for Panjshir citizens to study and become certified teachers for the many schools throughout the province. The office of the Provincial Director of Education is also located at the Teacher's Training College.

Because of the overwhelming threat to so many innocent people, the decision was made to dispose of the IED outside of the province. The recovery and disposal was a team effort.

This is just one example of the solid relationship between the local people, the local police, the provincial government and the PRT.

"The reason this IED was found and taken care of so quickly is because the farmer who found the IED called the police and the police called the governor," Captain Stewart said. 

The PRT commander agreed the handling of this incident from start to finish was a success.

"In 2005, the governor of Panjshir asked for our PRT to base itself here among the people," Colonel Kaskel said. "We are each other's neighbors; we care about the people of this province and they care about us. They know we are here to work hand-in-hand with them to ensure they live in a safe, secure and an economically developing province. 

Thanks to our Panjshiri neighbors, we are safe and will continue our mission," he said.

This is the first direct threat against the Panjshir PRT since 2006 and only the second since the PRT was requested here. That incident was also reported to local authorities and thwarted before the device could be detonated.

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