How Paras spot bombers

[Blackleaf]

How Paras spot bombers
From TOM NEWTON DUNN
Helmand, Afghanistan

British Paratroopers.

A BRITISH soldier revealed yesterday how Our Boys spot suicide bombers in the Afghan hellhole of Helmand.

Gunner Sam Sampson — his index finger hovering over the trigger of an SA80 rifle — explained: “It’s pretty easy.

“They’re normally in Toyota Corollas, they’re moving very erratically and the driver’s side slopes down because the artillery shells are behind his seat.

“That way, he knows he’s sure to go first.”

Sam, 20, spoke as he scanned the road ahead of his convoy from the “top cover” position in his armoured Land Rover.

He and his comrades are ordered to pour a wall of fire into any car that repeatedly ignores their orders to stay at least 20 metres away.

And, as The Sun learned when we went on patrol with Sam’s troop from 16 Air Assault Brigade’s 21 Battery, it is for a very good reason.

A few weeks ago, a 21-year-old Taliban fanatic tried to ram another of the troop’s “snatch” Land Rovers.

The jihadi got to within ten metres before one of the vehicle’s top cover sentries managed to fire a round at him.

He detonated his explosives immediately.

Amazingly, nobody was killed and only two were injured by the blast.

Sam, from Hastings, East Sussex, added: “A mate of mine is back in England now with only half an ear because of that bloke.

“And if I’ve got anything to do with it, they’re not going to get close enough ever again.”

It is a terrifying danger the gunners face every day when they leave their camp’s gates in province capital Lashkar Gah.

Yet, somehow, they have found a way to overcome the nerve-shattering tension.

They look at it as just another day’s work in southern Afghanistan’s lawless badlands

On a new high-risk mission, a 3,300-strong British task force, led by the Paras, has moved in to bring security to an opium-swamped province where the Taliban and drugs barons run amok.

The threat from the crazed extremists is not the only problem for the troops — there is also the blistering desert heat.

In this part of the desolate country, temperatures can top 55°C. Afternoon winds blow up blinding dust storms for 120 days in a row at this time of year. When asked how the soldiers manage, Sam shrugged and smiled.

He said: “It’s what we do. If the Army has put us here it’s for a very good reason and that’s good enough for me." [[he said, showing true British grit]]

Scores of Paras arrived in the Helmand town Sangin yesterday after reports the Taliban had seized it and massacred 32 civilians.

The troops were backed by attack helicopters but no shots were reported fired.

t.newtondunn@the-sun.co.uk

thesun.co.uk

 

[Mogz]

It is a nerve wracking feeling to be driving down a road in Afghanistan with cars all around you, trying to spot the explosive-laden one. Kabul was the worst. There is no semblance of the order we see on our roads in North America. Cars are everywhere, there's like 8 lanes of traffic on a street designed for 4, and there is no free flowing movement like in Canada. To make matters worse, people walk between the cars, up and down the street, just adding to the problem. In all, you're a huge target when you go out on the roads in Afghanistan. A car can creep up behind you and explode without you even knowing what happened. Or that innocent shop keeper to your right could have some old Russian 155mm arty shells wired together in his cart, waiting for you to pass. Until you sit there in the turret of a G-wagon, behind a C6 machine gun, scanning everywhere for a threat that you might not see in time, you'll never know just how exposed and vulnerable a soldier feels in that Nation. Luckily though, we've learned from our mistakes, and have adapted how we drive. We employ changing patterns, spacing, and speeds to keep the enemy guessing, and we've been given permission to drive on the sidewalks to avoid traffic jams.

 

[dekhqonbacha]

If they found out, at least, the differences that suicide bomber's car look like, they will be better protected. At least not every suicide bombers will achieve their goal.

That's good. And every other coalition forces must learn from this as well. They must share their experiences. I think they already do. So, the causalities between soldiers and civilians must decline, now. Hope.

 

[Mogz]

That's good. And every other coalition forces must learn from this as well. They must share their experiences. I think they already do. So, the causalities between soldiers and civilians must decline, now. Hope.

Actually, the coalition does share info very well. When I was overseas, I worked a lot with the Belgians, and the flow of information was excellent. We formed a lot of mixed patrols with them and eveything seemed to mesh extremely well. I guess all those decades of military exercises together has served NATO well in the long run.