IED Factories and Whatnot

This article offers a slide show on IEDs found in Mosul. One of the problems is that IED "factories" are just peoples' houses, and as you can see from the slide show, the components of the IED are pretty small; easy to hide, easy to cache, easy to move if the bad guys think the heat is on (and, after the last couple of days, the Mungadai are pretty sure that the bad guys think that the heat is on).

Also, the slide show shows a bag of HME (home made explosive). We found an IED loaded with this stuff a couple (three?) days ago. Once we convinced the ISF to stop playing catch with it--no, really-- we isolated the device and called EOD to blow it. The relatively small container packed quite a wallop. In fact, the blast was strong enough that I thought the EOD guys had put charges on it and factored a high "P" factor (P=Plenty) into their demo calculations. Instead, they said they had merely run a wire and sent a current through the device. I was pretty impressed with the power of the "Home Made" IED. Ours didn't smell like cinnamon, though.

We've got pictures and video of the blast, which we'll post as soon as we get the chance.