Bomb Material Uncovered

In raids by Afgan Police and U.S. soldiers uncovered half a millions pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer used in bombs. These fertilizer bombs had been used against many of the soldiers fighting in Afganistan. An example of the effectiveness of a fertilizer bomb would be the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing which killed 168 people. An article covering the bomb material discover says,

With a typical homemade bomb weighing no more than 60 pounds, the seizure of that much fertilizer — more than 10 tractor-trailer loads — removed potentially thousands of bombs from the streets and trails of southern Afghanistan...The use of homemade bombs has been sky rocketing. Last year, 4,100 bombs either exploded or were discovered beforehand in Afghanistan. So far this year, 6,500 bombs either have been found or have gone off.

The removal of this many potential bombs is a big success and has potentially saved the lives of countless soldiers and civilians. Hopefully this will help put a damper on the number of bomb attacks in Afganistan on American and NATO troops.