July 23, 2009
Bomb expert Captain Daniel Shepherd killed despite Taleban warning
David Brown and Raf Sanchez
A third British bomb disposal expert has been killed in Afghanistan weeks after warning that the Taleban were trying to catch them out.
Captain Daniel Shepherd, 28, was killed while attempting to defuse a roadside bomb in in Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand province on Monday. He had personally neutralised 50 Taleban devices in the past three months.
A soldier from 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards became the 19th British victim this month when he was killed by an explosion while on patrol in the same district yesterday.
RELATED LINKS The bomb disposal man’s tale of do or die Taleban bombs are homemade but lethal Soldiers learn to reduce risk of being maimed Captain Shepherd was killed while attempting to defuse a device. His death came as a leading British officer said that the military had been too slow to capitalise on the use of flying drones to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have caused about 80 per cent of casualties in Afghanistan. Only one bomb disposal expert was killed during the whole of the Iraq conflict.
Captain Shepherd, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment, the Royal Logistic Corps, had explained the risk from the Taleban’s remotely detonated bombs during an interview last month. “They have got some very good intelligence on the way we conduct our business,” he told ITV News. “They watch us closely, trying to find ways to catch us out in future. It’s a case that we have to be aware that every action that we take could be used as a way of catching us out in future.”
Captain Shepherd, from Lincoln, was yesterday described by his commanding officer as “unbelievably courageous”. Major Eldon Millar, Officer Commanding the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, said: “On task he was the epitome of cool, calm and collected — he was utterly unflappable, a trait which inspired enormous confidence in all who served alongside him.”
His wife, Kerry, said: “He was doing what he loved. I was so proud of him. I have not lost just a husband but a best friend and he will be missed by everyone.”
Captain Shepherd was considered one of the Army’s most talented bomb disposal experts. In 2006 he was presented with the Carmen’s Sword of Honour by the Princess Royal after being selected by the Royal Logistic Corps as the most outstanding young officer of the year.
He was due to take a job at the Armed Forces’ Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, Middlesex, aimed at counteracting the threat from Taleban ambush bombs. The Ministry of Defence is reported to be bringing together a new bomb disposal unit of 300 troops to defuse the devices and to identify the masterminds behind the bombing networks.
The Taleban’s IEDs are become increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect. They have reduced the amount of metal in their roadside bombs, limiting the metallic content of pressure pads and replacing the usual shrapnel with glass and ceramic. Many IEDs are attached to a command wire so that they can be detonated up to 500 metres away when a bomb disposal expert approaches.
Bomb disposal experts — known in the army as “Felix” — are being sent out on average four times a day to neutralise devices, collect intelligence after explosions in an attempt to identify bomb-makers and to respond to hoaxes or false alarms.
They are frequently defusing devices by hand rather than using remote control equipment because of the number of IEDs being uncovered and the need to operate quickly in hostile environments. About 80 per cent of British casualties in Afghanistan have been caused by IEDs. There were 418 IED attacks between January and May this year, compared with 293 for the same period in 2008.
The only British bomb disposal expert to be killed while defusing a device in Iraq was Staff Sergeant Chris Muir, 32. He was killed while attempting to neutralise “bomblets” released by a coalition cluster bomb in southern Iraq in March 2003.
Yesterday, Air Vice-Marshal Martin Routledge, who has just stepped down as chief of staff for strategy, policy and plans at the RAF headquarters, Air Command, said that military processes were “too bureaucratic and unwieldy” to capitalise on fast-developing technology to detect IEDs. British and American forces already use Reaper unmanned aircraft, but there is concern that not enough resources are being allocated for such technology.
The Royal Logistic Corps, responsible for counter-terrorist bomb disposal and explosive ordnance disposal, has around 500 specialist soldiers, but the number in Afghanistan is secret as it could be used by the Taleban.