Finns at Maimana continue as normal after failed bombing attempt

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Finnish soldiers stationed at Maimana in N.W. Afghanistan, as part of the Nato-Led ISAF peacekeeping force, continued their work as normal on Tuesday, in spite of recent bomb threats against the base.
      An explosive device made from a mortar shell and an alarm-clock timer was found against the perimeter wall of the international base on Monday, but it failed to go off as planned and was later successfully defused.
      Maimana houses around 200 ISAF soldiers from Norway, Latvia, and Finland under Norwegian command. Some 30 Finns are stationed there.
     
The visit on Tuesday by Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Störe went ahead as planned, according to Lt. Col. Timo Hartikainen , who spoke by phone from Maimana.
      Hartikainen, who is deputy commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) based in Maimana, noted that one or two changes were made to the minister's programme, and that the various events all took place within the base compound.
     
The discovery of the live round and timer was one of four bomb threats that have surfaced at Maimana in recent days. Hartikainen said it was hard to judge whether this was a harbinger of a general increase in insurgent activity in the region. There had not been any such bombing incidents in the vicinity for a couple of years, he reported.
      The bomb outside the base was apparently set to explode shortly before the moment when it was actually discovered.
      A German EOD team using a remotely-controlled bomb disposal robot later made the device safe.
      Lt. Col. Hartikainen pointed out that relations between the peacekeepers and the local population are good. Monday's bomb was in fact located based on information coming from local residents.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Failed bomb attack on Finnish base in Afghanistan (16.1.2007)

Links:
  International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
  Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT)

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