Three IEDS disarmed by MTF-1 protecting Miribad

Three IEDS disarmed by MTF-1 protecting Miribad villagers

A 1st Mentoring Task Force patrol recently uncovered three Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in a single day on a major civilian crossing point in the Mirabad Valley region of Oruzgan Province.

The morning security patrol was alerted to the presence of explosives by a highly trained Explosive Detection Dog as it approached the major crossing point for a local village in the valley.

Commanding Officer of the 1st Mentoring Task Force, Lieutenant Colonel Jason Blain, said the soldiers were cued onto the threat by the dog and immediately worked to protect the nearby villagers and themselves.

"Once we had secured the site, our Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialists were brought in to prevent any villagers from accidentally triggering the device," Lieutenant Colonel Blain said.

"The engineers safely dealt with the device and recovered the components for later analysis."

As the patrol continued a second explosive device was discovered by a soldier near the bridge.

Australian Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialists moved to deal with the second bomb, and while carefully approaching the notoriously unstable home-made bombs spotted a third explosive device nearby.

"The danger posed by these items in such close proximity to one another was extremely high and the specialists destroyed them using explosives.

"These three devices, all found in the space of a few of hours and within a couple of hundred metres of one another, posed an extremely high risk to the villagers nearby who must use the bridge to access their crops and a nearby bazaar."

Lieutenant Colonel Blain said the discovery was further evidence that insurgents have no qualms about killing innocent civilians in their attempts to destabilise Oruzgan Province.

"There is no doubt that these three devices could have caused massive casualties to an unprotected civilian population going about their daily business if it wasn't for the excellent work of my soldiers," Lieutenant Colonel Blain said.

"This clearance is just one example of how we are working hard to protect the locals in our area of operations."

ENDS

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