CF (and others) taking on IED makers at Kandahar

Quite a bit of success, but with a price:

Taliban relying more on homemade bombs

The Taliban's increasing reliance on homemade bombs may be the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass for the insurgency, says a Canadian Forces soldier who helped plan a mission to pull the bombs out of caches and compounds.

Operation Constrictor intercepted the equivalent of 30 to 80 bombs [110 actually, see penultimate para] from villages near Kandahar over several days, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Patrick said yesterday.

The sweeps also led to the death of a Canadian soldier. Private Alexandre Péloquin, 20, was killed Monday during the mission when he stepped on a hidden bomb. Hundreds of Afghan, Canadian and NATO soldiers [emphasis added] worked to recover 15 explosives on that day, with more bombs and bomb components discovered in the days prior.

The Canadian Forces said the effort will save dozens of lives.

"There's an insurgent cell that can no longer project itself," Col. Patrick, operations chief for Canada's Joint Task Force Afghanistan, said in a briefing to journalists.

There were firefights along the way, he added. But as is customary for the Canadian Forces, Col. Patrick refused to talk about how many fighters were killed or captured. "I won't get at the numbers but it was very successful," he said.

The sweeps targeted a group of villages in the volatile Panjwai district, an area west of Kandahar where many Canadian combat deaths have occurred.

"Where are the bombs being made?" Col. Patrick said. "They are being made here."..

More bombs are placed each year, Col Patrick said, and he regards it as a sign of desperation. "You could call it a bit of Hail Mary pass. Only time will tell."

He said the IED count partly reflects the surge of NATO and Afghan National Army troops into the area.

While the insurgents hope to pick off foreign troops, they more typically kill police and civilians travelling in soft-skinned vehicles such as pickup trucks and tractors. Military vehicles are increasingly designed to survive the blasts...

It's difficult to say how many bombs were recovered, Col. Patrick said, since so many were incomplete. Enough material came from the compounds to suggest 30 "very powerful" bombs were taken out of circulation, he said, though the material could have been used to make up to 80 less-powerful bombs.

Col. Patrick said he has little doubt that other bomb-making cells are redoubling their efforts. "No, this does not remove the IED threat from the theatre or even the area we're working in," he said...

Lots more on anti-IED efforts here.

Babbler's Update: One of the things I learned talking to C-IED people over in Kandahar earlier this year is that if the insurgents are using more cobbled-together, homemade parts for their IEDs, that's a good thing for our troops. Commercially produced detonators and other components are far more reliable than their cottage-industry counterparts. Detonators in particular are more liable to kill or maim their makers than coalition troops, and if they're already attached to a more powerful explosive, then those delivering or placing the IED are likely to meet their maker quite unexpectedly.

This piece I wrote might also be of interest, especially the statistics of bombs defeated versus those that were effective for the insurgents.