Spycraft - Melton [207]
“Four holes are set in an L-shape; one hole is positioned directly above the reception area and the three others run along the lateral axis of the primary assembly hall,” Frank reported. “The imaging also shows a narrow line of disturbed earth from hole to hole, then off toward the edge of the building.”
Frank’s information bolstered the credibility of the walk-in’s report. Should the holes contain even a moderate amount of explosives, the blast would, at minimum, collapse the roof. While the imager could not provide clues to what, if anything, was beneath the surface, the pattern, size, and shape of the hot spots were consistent with what was known of how mines or munitions could be deployed. If the holes concealed an explosive array, the work had been extraordinarily well done.
Satisfied that the roof had been thoroughly imaged and convinced that explosives were likely buried there, Mark recommended to the U.S. officer in command that military personnel and the Afghanistan locals preparing the celebration be ordered to the far side of the compound. The soldiers complied, but the Afghanis declined to evacuate or even suspend their preparations. It was only two hours before dark and guests had already begun to arrive in the reception area.
With the most experience in explosive ordnance disposal of any member of the team, Mark made the next foray onto the roof to probe the hot spots. Information from the walk-in, combined with the hole patterns and a narrow line of disturbed earth running from the holes to the edge of the roof all strongly suggested the explosives were configured in a command detonated array. With command detonation, the four connected charges would be set off with a single signal. Working with the command detonation hypothesis the team prepared a small electric charge to cut the command wire.
The potential for disaster was enormous. The team still had no idea what type of IEDs lay buried inches beneath the surface, whether there was a secondary detonation system, or if they were booby-trapped.
As the reception hall rapidly filled with Afghan dignitaries and nightfall approached, Mark took the narrow staircase to the roof and began gently probing around the areas shown on the imager. Several inches underground, his probe hit what felt like steel. He carefully swept the crumbled earth away to expose a small section of the buried object. Using the thermal images as a road map, he continued working slowly and cautiously, and eventually identified an eight-gauge detonator lead wire buried just beneath the surface that connected the four holes and led off to join a tangle of other communications and electrical wires that fed the building from the outside. He had seen enough. There were several explosives beneath the roof linked for command detonation with the signal wire trailing off to some remote place in the war-battered city beyond the compound. He attached the electric cutting charge, gave the signal, and the line was severed.
Mark left the roof just as the sun was setting. Afghan dignitaries were now crowded into the reception hall of the palace oblivious to what was likely thousands of pounds of live explosives only a few feet above their heads. The end of Ramadan was announced as Mark made his way down the narrow staircase and a liberated Kandahar erupted in celebratory gunfire. He could not suppress a smile at the thought that somewhere among the city’s celebrants was a terrorist, his finger repeatedly pushing a button in vain, wondering why in the name of Allah his best efforts had come to naught.
There had not been time to consider removing whatever munitions lay buried beneath the surface. The palace compound was as secure as possible and Mark reasoned that leaving the munitions buried until the end of Eid carried little risk.
After Eid, an Afghan military de-mining team was brought onto the compound to dig the ordnance out of the roof. Mark estimated that it would