PRT/NURISTAN: SEIZURE OF EXPLOSIVE MATERIAL NEAR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 005395 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SA/FO, SA/A, S/CR, SA/PB, S/CT, EUR/RPM NSC FOR AHARRIMAN OSD FOR DFATA CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD TREASURY FOR D/S KIMMITT, APARAMESWARAN, AJEWELL RELEASABLE TO NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ASEC SNAR KCRS AF SUBJECT: PRT/NURISTAN: SEIZURE OF EXPLOSIVE MATERIAL NEAR NEW PRT SITE ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: PRT Nuristan assisted Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) officers in the seizure of material that could be used to make explosives which was being transported in the direction of a region in western Nuristan noted for its lucrative illegal mining activities. Nothing indicates that the seized material was directly intended for terrorist activities, but the seizure will cause discomforting to those used to profitting from the illegal mining activities. ISAF's establishing a presence in western Nuristan may encourage a more aggressive approach by local law enfourcement officials. The Embassy is pressing the Ministry of Mines to develop regulations needed to implement the law recently passed to help bring illegal mining under control. End Summary. -------------- Middle of the Night Seizure -------------- ¶2. (SBU) At approximately 0200 on October 22, Afghan Security Guards employed by the PRT to provide security, stopped two vehicles, a lorry and a Hilux pick-up, that were traveling together on the road that passes the entrance to PRT Nuristan. Inspection of the lorry revealed more than 150 110-pound bags, most of which appeared to contain ammonium nitrate, which can be used in explosives. Some of the bags had Cyrillic script, others were labeled as containing sugar. Found in the Hilux were boxes labeled as filled with acne medication but which contained 159 small brake fluid cans that were filled with a silvery metallic paste. In the Hilux were also three local Afghan National Police. ¶3. (SBU) The vehicles had raised suspicions because they were traveling slowly and late at night. Lorries do not normally travel in this region after dark. PRT Nuristan had recently heard reports that a lorry would be transporting explosives up the Alingar road and, in response, took measures to increase vigilance for suspicious vehicles. -------------- No Good Explanation Offered -------------- ¶4. (U) The occupants of the vehicles, when initially questioned offered different stories. The local police insisted that they were simply hitching a ride back to their base at Nurgaram District headquarters from Nangerach village, which lies about two km south of the PRT. The driver of the lorry at first said that the ammonium nitrate would be used for explosives in road construction (see para 10) but subsequently changed his story and said that it would be used for in connection with mining activities -- which at this point are illegal in Nuristan Province. -------------- PRT-NDS Cooperation -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The PRT notified the district NDS personnel based at Nangerach who shortly arrived at the PRT. NDS directed that vehicles and occupants be held pending investigation at a location along the road that was not in or adjacent to the PRT. The bags were unloaded from the lorry and scanned with a metal detector. No triggering devices or other suspicious items were found in either vehicle. ¶6. (SBU) PRT Nuristan contacted RC East which KABUL 00005395 002 OF 003 dispatched a team from Jalalabad to examine the material. The team arrived in the afternoon, took samples and preliminarily identified the cans as containing magnesium paste. The ammonium nitrate, which can also be used as fertilizer, was found to be finely ground, suggesting that it was intended to be used for explosives rather than fertilizer. Because the mining that is being conducted in Nuristan Province is illegal, the NDS confiscated the material. The vehicles and their occupants were released. -------------- Misleading Press Reports -------------- ¶8. (U) Reports in the press about this seizure, which cite an ISAF statement, describe the vehicles as carrying bomb-making materials. The reports incorrectly locate the seizure as having occurred in Laghman Province rather than Nuristan Province. The articles juxtapose the report of this seizure with the uptick in suicide and other bomb attacks in recent weeks in Kabul, implicitly drawing a relationship that does not seem to be warranted. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The explanation offered that this material was intended for use in mining is plausible. Material and supplies bound for mines in western Nuristan must be transported over the road that run past PRT Nuristan. That does not mean, however, that the use would be benign and pose no threat. The gem mining that takes place in the region is being done largely on public lands, and is illegal. The use of crude mining techniques (involving explosives) reduces the value of the precious gems produced and degrades the source. The manner in which the gems are smuggled out and trafficked in no way benefits the government and the people of the region. There are reported ties to anti-government elements. ¶10. (SBU) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has two road construction projects in the Alingar River basin that will dramatically ease access to western Nuristan's prime mining districts. Only one of the projects requires blasting, and the contractor for the other project has not yet received approval from the MOI to purchase and transport blasting materials. While these roads will facilitate ISAF and Afghan security and law enforcement operations in this isolated and largely lawless region, they may also make it easier to move the illegally mined and trafficked gems. ¶11. (SBU) ISAF's move to establish a permanent and active presence in western Nuristan -- and its involvement in this seizure likely caused discomfort among parties involved in illegal mining and related activities who were used to operating at will. The cooperation between PRT and local officials in making the seizure signaled support for enforcement of laws that do exist. It may encourage local officials to move on their own in future instances. ¶12. (SBU) Parliament passed a mining law which has the potential for helping bring illegal mining in Nuristan under control, but the Ministry of Mines has not developed the regulations that implement the law. Embassy will continue to KABUL 00005395 003 OF 003 press the Ministry to issue regulations expeditiously, and will help develop ministry officials' capacity to implement the regulations and enforce the law. NEUMANN