World | Afghanistan
Afghan bomb devices traced to UK
The devices, which enable Taliban fighters to detonate roadside bombs by remote control, are either sent to sympathisers in the region, or carried by volunteers who fly to Pakistan and then make their way across the border.
- By Con Coughlin, The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2009
- Published: 23:06 February 21, 2009
Helmand: The devices, which enable Taliban fighters to detonate roadside bombs by remote control, are either sent to sympathisers in the region, or carried by volunteers who fly to Pakistan and then make their way across the border.
Details of how British electronic components have been found in roadside bombs were given to David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, when he visited British troops at their military compound at Lashkagar, in Helmand province, earlier this week.
In a briefing on British operations in southern Afghanistan by Brigadier Gordon Messenger, the Royal Marine commander of the British battle-group, Miliband was shown examples of the crude, home-made devices that are being used in attacks against British patrols.
They included mobile phones filled with explosives, which could kill or seriously injure British soldiers patrolling on foot, and more sophisticated devices that can be used against military vehicles.
Explosives experts who have examined the devices say they have found British-made electronic components that enable Taliban insurgents to detonate their home-made, road-side bombs by remote control.
The devices smuggled into Afghanistan from Britain range from basic remote control units that are normally used to fly model airplanes to more advanced components that enable insurgents to conduct attacks from up to a mile away.
"We have found electronic components in devices used to target British troops that originally come from Britain," a British explosives officer told Miliband during a detailed briefing on the type of improvised explosive device (IED) used against British forces.
When asked how the components had reached Afghanistan, the officer explained that they had either been sent from Britain, or physically brought to Afghanistan by British Muslims who had flown over.
The disclosure is the latest in a string of suggestions from British commanders about the connections between British Muslims and violence in Afghanistan.
Last August, Brigadier Ed Butler, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, said there were "British passport holders" in the Taliban ranks.
Other officers believe their soldiers have killed British Muslims fighting alongside the Taliban.
And last year, it was revealed that RAF Nimrod surveillance planes monitoring Taliban radio signals in Afghanistan had heard fighters speaking with Yorkshire and Midlands accents.
British commanders have recorded a significant rise in the use of IEDs during the past two years, partly the result of the success British forces have recorded in defeating the Taliban in conventional attacks.
"We've really hit the Taliban hard, and the only way they can respond is to rely more heavily on IEDs and similar weapons," said a British officer.
The number of IED attacks against British forces has risen from an average of 27 per cent of attacks in 2007 to an estimated 55 per cent so far this year. A significant proportion of the 145 British service personnel killed on active duty in Afghanistan have been killed by improvised roadside bombs.
British military officers say the devices were not as sophisticated as those used against British forces in Iraq, and that Taliban insurgents needed to be able to physically monitor British patrols when carrying out attack.
Details of the British link to IEDs were provided to Miliband during his 48-hour fact-finding mission to Afghanistan earlier this week where he met military and government officials to assess the level of progress being made by British and coalition forces as the current military deployment enters its fourth year.
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