AFGHANISTAN: ISAF SPOKESMAN MAJOR STEVE ODELL SAYS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST FIVE SMALL EXPLOSIONS IN THE LAST TEN DAYS IN KABUL

Record ID: 640525

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: ISAF SPOKESMAN MAJOR STEVE ODELL SAYS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST FIVE SMALL EXPLOSIONS IN THE LAST TEN DAYS IN KABUL
  • Date: 27th August 2002
  • Summary: (W5) BAGRAM AIRBASE, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 26, 2002) (REUTERS FOR AGENCY POOL) SLV NEWS BRIEFING; MV MEDIA LISTENING (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) COLONEL ROGER KING, MILITARY SPOKESMAN, SAYING "Operation Mountain Sweep in Southeastern Afghanistan, concluded today with the exfiltration and repositioning of forces. The objective of Mountain Sweep was to find and destroy remaining al Qaeda elements in that area, search for weapons or usable Intelligence data for Coalition Forces, and project combat power into the area to deny the enemy sanctuary there." SCU MEDIA SOUNDBITE) (English) KING SAYING: "Some of the unique aspects of these caches were that seven women in the village of Narizah were found to be carrying nine RPG (rocket propelled grenades) rounds hidden under their burkhas, and one of the mortar round caches was booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices. That cache was blown in place by explosive ordnance disposal specialists. Coalition forces took ten persons under control during this operation. Though taken under fire on two occasions, U.S. forces suffered no battle casualties." MV NEWS BRIEFING SLV SOLDIERS FROM CHARLIE COMPANY, 505 INFANTRY, 1ST BATTALION, PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT RESTING AT BAGRAM AIRBASE AFTER TAKING PART IN OPERATION "MOUNTAIN SWEEP" IN SOUTHEASTERN AFGHANISTAN; SCU SOLDIER WRITING LETTER; MV SOLDIERS RESTING, WATCHING TELEVISION, READING MAGAZINES (11 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 11th September 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KABUL AND BAGRAM AIRBASE, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9CKFH06ICNOXP1IIL5JWI5VU0
  • Story Text: A small explosion has shaken central Kabul, just hours after a minor blast outside a nearby U.N. guest house, international peacekeepers in Afghanistan said.
    Meanwhile, U.S military sources say they have concluded Operation "Mountain Sweep," which was aimed at finding remaining al Qaeda elements and search for weapons caches.
    Major Steve Odell, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told a news briefing that there had been at least five small explosions in Kabul over the last 10 days.
    "None have been devised to injure or do serious damage to property," he said.
    However, according to Odell, two Afghans were injured in the blast late on Sunday outside a U.N. compound.
    A small explosive device weighing an estimated 0.5 kg (one lb) went off in a dustbin at around 8 p.m. (1530 GMT).
    There was a second blast in the early hours of Monday not far from the Inter-Continental Hotel, although ISAF was not sure whether it involved a bomb.
    "There is a large quantity of explosive material available in Kabul," Odell said. "This could be a prank or it could be a larger group. We don't know."
    ISAF has nearly 5,000 troops patrolling Kabul, where blasts, assassinations and assassination attempts still undermine stability nearly 10 months after the fall of the Taliban militia.
    In the meantime, U.S.-led coalition forces on Monday wound up their latest major mission to destroy pockets of al Qaeda resistance in southeastern Afghanistan with the arrest of 10 suspects.
    But despite involving five combat air assaults and three major marches through southeastern Afghanistan, the week-long Operation Mountain Sweep apparently failed to inflict significant direct damage on its target.
    U.S. military spokesman Colonel Roger King said at Bagram Air Base just north of Kabul that 2,000 coalition troops, including Afghan militia, uncovered five weapons caches and two sets of documents belonging to the ousted Taliban regime.
    U.S. forces came under fire twice during Operation Mountain Sweep, suffering no battle casualties, but two Afghan fighters were killed in an exchange of fire outside the southern city of Kandahar last week.
    Two of their attackers were also killed and one was wounded.
    The operation was the latest by U.S.-led troops to sweep through eastern and southeastern Afghanistan to root out elements of the Taliban and the al Qaeda network who fled through the areas after the fall of Kabul late last year.
    U.S. special forces soldiers in Khost, in the Paktia Region, told Reuters late last week that they believed al Qaeda groups were still hiding in the area.
    King said the weapons caches seized or destroyed consisted of one anti-aircraft artillery gun, two 82 mm mortars with 120 bombs, five cases of 81 mm mortar bombs, two rocket-propelled grenade launchers with 22 rounds and various machinegun ammunition.
    "Some of the unique aspects of these caches were that seven women in the village in Narizah were found to be carrying nine RPG rounds hidden under their burqas, and one of the mortar round caches was booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices," King said.
    "That cache was blown in place by explosive ordnance disposal specialists. Coalition forces took ten persons under control during this operation. Though taken under fire on two occasions, U.S. forces suffered no battle casualties," King said.
    Soldiers who had taken part in Operation Mountain Sweep were relaxing at Bagram airbase on Monday.
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