ANA Tip Leads to Large Weapons Cache

Sgt. Michael Jenkins, a team leader for 1st Plt, Co C, 1st Bn, 168th Inf Regt, poses next to explosive contraband found in Sarmast Kheyl, Zormat District, Jan. 31. PAKTYA PROVINCE – The ANA and TF Lethal, 3rd Bde, 1st ID, uncovered a significant amount of homemade explosives, IED-making materials, several pressure plate IEDs, triggering devices for IEDs, and miscellaneous IED parts. The ANA received the info from a villager during a joint patrol with CF, in eastern Zormat, a week before the discovery.

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While patrolling in a nearby village, the ANA informed CF of the info. As a result, 1st Lt. Khasim, plt leader for the ANA unit, and Army 1st Lt. Joel Sage, plt leader of 1st Plt., Co. C, moved their patrols to Sarmast Kheyl. While the ANA searched the suspected location for the cache, Sgt. Michael Jenkins was helping provide security. He and his ANA partner saw barbed wire covering a tarp across a field by a nearby structure, and decided to investigate. “He looked around, pulled some brush aside and then I saw the shock on his face,” said Jenkins, describing the ANA soldier’s inspection. The soldier looked at Jenkins, saying only, “Boom.” They discovered a vest for carrying equipment, and a handful of modified anti-personnel mines, reinforced with extra homemade explosives, and retrofitted with a pressure plate device. This find sparked further investigation. The ANA found switches and wires, IED manufacturing materials, and a significant amount of an illegal fertilizer. Jenkins was outside the building with a handheld metal detector, when the ANA approached Sage and asked for help searching inside. A small team from 1st Plt., Co. C, including Jenkins, went into the building and began searching. Inside, they found large steel drums and a 55 gallon barrel full of grain. The barrel had a pressure switch hidden inside.

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