Huge cache of explosives found. From the New York Times:
Allies Uncover Vast Cache of Bomb Material in Afghanistan
With fertilizer bombs now the most lethal weapons used against American and NATO soldiers in southern Afghanistan, the operation in Kandahar was something close to astonishing.
In a pair of raids on Sunday, Afghan police and American soldiers discovered a half-million pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that is used in the overwhelming majority of homemade bombs here. Some 2,000 bomb-making devices like timers and triggers were also found, and 15 Afghans were detained.
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, officials said.
"You can turn a bag of ammonium nitrate into a bomb in a matter hours," said Col. Mark Lee, who heads NATO's effort to stop the bombmakers in southern Afghanistan. "This is a great first step."
The article goes on to say that ammonium nitrate is presently illegal in Afghanistan. Farmers are given urea-based fertilizers and if any ammonium nitrate is seized, the farmers are compensated. Starting to roll up these bastards...
