FBI begins IED training

LAS VEGAS, March 24 (UPI) -- The FBI announced a new initiative in Nevada aimed at training emergency response officials to handle a terrorist-deployed improvised explosive device.

The five-day national training program held at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas begins Monday. The program, for FBI weapons of mass destruction coordinators and special agent bomb technicians among other emergency response personnel, is an effort to provide training on handling IEDs and the typical chemicals involved to better diffuse the potential threat, the FBI reported.

The training program initiative is from the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, the FBI Laboratory, and the Critical Incident Response Group, with collaboration from the Department of Homeland Security to protect the United States from potential IED threats.

"This training program is part of the national improvised explosive familiarization initiative," Vahid Majidi, FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate assistant director, said in a statement. "It is designed to be a force multiplier in our efforts to train bomb squads and other emergency responders about emerging improvised explosive threats in our fight against terrorist attacks."