IEDs are main threat in southern Helmand

COP SULLIVAN, Afghanistan, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The dominant feature of the counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province is the improvised explosive device, the bombs planted not only to cause casualties but also to erode troop morale and cow the local population.

In Iraq, where they first gained prominence and a place in the lexicon of war, its variations were multiple. There were roadside IEDs, secondary blast anti-personnel IEDs, vehicle-borne IEDs (car bombs), suicide vest IEDs and booby-trapped houses.

The ordnance used was mainly leftover military munitions from Saddam Hussein's army.

In southern Helmand, the weapons are cruder but just as devastating.

"They're mostly pressure-plate activated with 50-pound charges," said U.S. Marines Sgt. Grey Jewett, an explosive ordnance disposal expert attached to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Weapons Company's 81 Platoon.

"Everything is home-made," Staff Sgt. Matthew Grant said. "But the ammonium nitrate (a substance used for fertilizing crops and used as the explosive) isn't from Afghanistan. It all seems to be brought in from Pakistan.

"They're really good at disguising it. They take their time planting it and put it in (the ground) well."

IEDs are believed to account for the majority of deaths among U.S. service members in Afghanistan. According to a senior officer with Task Force Leatherneck, in charge of U.S. Marine Forces in Helmand Province, 80 percent to 90 percent of the 38 U.S. service members killed in Helmand since May died as a result of IED blasts.

Some IEDs are planted by hardcore Taliban gunmen. Others are planted by part-time, casual insurgents, the so-called day laborers.

"There are the 'Big T' Taliban and 'Little T' Taliban," the senior officer said. "With the 'Little T,' it's a way to make a living. Sure they believe in what they're doing but at the same time the main motivation is making some money and feeding their family.

"They get paid $20 to $50 for planting one depending on the available of funds the local Taliban commander has."

The officer, who requested anonymity, declined to estimate the number of Taliban in the U.S. area of Helmand province. The ebb and flow of fighters from neighboring provinces and Pakistan -- and distinguishing full-time from part-time insurgents -- makes any estimate guesswork, he said. But Helmand is still one of the most volatile areas in the country.

In the province's southern Nawa District -- 400 square miles of desert and farming villages along the Helmand River -- Marine officers said they estimated there were about 500 gunmen in their area when they arrived in May.

Firefights and IED discoveries occurred daily, they said.

Kinetic clearing operations since then have driven many Taliban into a neighboring district of Marjah, where there are no U.S. troops or other International Security Assistance Force personnel. That's resulted in the Taliban using Marjah as a sanctuary and operations launch pad.

More than 20 Marine outposts have been established around Nawa's farming areas to thwart re-infiltration, five of them in a 91-square-mile area controlled by 1-5's 81 Platoon.

"Our patrols (from the outposts) aren't done in trucks," said 1st Lt. Clint Hall, commander of 81 Platoon. "You have to be there with the people and not hiding behind a piece of steel. We do at least 100 patrols a week. Every village sees and interacts with our Marines at least every other day.

"We've got to separate the Taliban from the people and the people from the Taliban," Hall said. "We don't need the people to survive but we need them to win. They (the Taliban) need them for both."

Hall said the number of IEDs found in his area of operation number about four or five a week, a 75 percent drop from September. The drop is the result of interdicting hardcore Taliban gunmen and from more local residents using "their shovel now for farming instead of planting IEDs."

His units regularly receive solid tips from locals on IED emplacements and suspicious activity in the sector. Nevertheless, IEDs still turn up.

On a recent night, four men were detained after an unmanned aerial vehicle spotted them placing a bomb in a road near COP Sullivan, the anchoring outpost for 81 Platoon. Several days earlier, two IEDs were discovered around a deserted building in the village of Korkoran, where a Marine had died earlier after stepping on an explosive.