Program empowers Afghan citizens to protect against threat of IED attacks

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – A new program backed by Afghan National Security Forces and Combined Joint Task Force-82 empowers Afghan citizens to take a stand against improvised explosive device attacks.

“Operation Jaeza,” or “reward,” gives Afghans a protection from enemy actions targeting innocent people, said Maj. Gen. Abdul Khaliq, commanding general of the 203rd Corps, Afghan National Army, during a press conference on the subject at a forward operating base in Paktya province, Dec. 7.

The program was implemented four weeks ago and has already produced $48,000 in rewards in just the past week. People in the Paktika, Paktya, Khowst and Ghazni provinces produced leads on the location of the IEDs themselves, their makers or distributors of IED-making materials.  

It is an honor to have citizens work side-by-side with the ANSF on the counter-IED program to help in the ways they can to end these enemy threats that harm innocent civilians, General Khaliq said.

For several years the counter-IED information campaign has been part of the U.S. Department of Defense Rewards Program. The program offers citizens monetary incentives generally ranging from $50-$10,000 for information that leads to the disruption or defeat of enemy activities and weapons caches. 

Regional government officials and other public representatives spoke out to the local and national news agencies at the conference about the importance for citizens to take action against the use of IEDs.   

“This is a good program that we fully support,” said Zarguna Hammeed, representative of the Women of Paktya. “People who discover information about IEDs should stop and report it. The money offered helps families as they help to protect others by reporting IEDs.”

“I think the enemy is targeting people on purpose,” General Fuller said. “These are the same organizations who send suicide bombers into mosques to blow up themselves.”

The DOD Reward Program and Operation Jaeza employ special precautions to protect people who report in to the tip-line and assures anonymity. 

“We don’t want people to put themselves in harm’s way,” he said.

Because of the proactive steps taken by ordinary citizens to dismantle the IED manufacture and distribution cycle, many leaders are more than confident that the program will continue on.

“People must organize their actions against enemy activities … to defeat this common enemy requires a partnership between the ANSF and the citizens,” said Col. Waqaf Shah, ANA 203rd Corps Religious and Cultural Office Chief. “We must pave the way for a safer future for our children, and protect innocent lives from these threats.”

In the past year, reports show more than 850 citizens were killed as a result of 3,170 IED detonations. Currently, civilians comprise 36 percent of all IED casualties. In the past three months, the number of IED causalities has increased, said Brig. Gen. Kurt Fuller, CJTF-82 and 203rd Corps Deputy Commander.