Spanish Troops Neutralise an Improvised Explosive Device in Ring Road

A Spanish Task Force Explosive Device Deactivation Team, made up of Legion Brigade sappers, on 2nd April located and neutralised an Improvised Explosive Device situated in the stretch of the Ring Road between the localities of Moqur and Qala i Naw.
 

The device had been detected the previous afternoon by a reconnaissance team that preceded a convoy transporting personnel and materiel from Darra i Bum y Moqur to Provincial Support Base ‘Ruy González de Clavijo’ in Qala i Naw.
 

A few kilometres from Combat Outpost ‘Ricketts’, the legionnaires in the vanguard found signs of an Improvised Explosive device in the route that they were travelling along.  The chief of the operation and officer in charge of the 30th Spanish Force in Afghanistan Protection and Security Unit, Captain Javier Iban, decided to thoroughly reconnoitre the area and delay the departure of the rest of the convoy until making certain of what was occurring.  ‘We had to see if it was a real explosive device or not’, he explained. 
 

Meanwhile, an Explosive Device Deactivation Team started up and travelled to the area.  After analysing the situation with the data gathered during reconnaissance, they were certain that they were dealing with an explosive device.  Nevertheless, the deactivators’ intervention had to be postponed until early Monday, indicated Lieutenant José Luis Carrasco, commander of the Spanish force Explosive Device Deactivation Teams.

 At the first light of day, neutralization labours began manually in the heavy deactivation suit.  Finally, they managed to neutralize an Improvised Explosive device containing 10 kilograms of homemade explosives that had been prepared to be detonated by radio control.
 

Including this one, there have now been three real explosive device deactivations carried out by Legion Brigade Explosive Device Deactivation Teams in Afghanistan during this rotation.