Anchorage Daily News

A large force of Fort Richardson paratroopers cleared a gantlet of roadside bombs and destroyed a huge explosives factory near Karmah last week, their commander said Thursday.

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Lt. Col. Valerie Keaveny said a tip led Fort Richardson paratroopers to the bomb cache and lab.

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In a conference call Thursday from Iraq, Lt. Col. Valerie Keaveny said the 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Division soldiers were following a tip from an Iraqi citizen when they launched the sweep on the morning of Feb. 20. They discovered a complex that housed a bomb lab and a cache including homemade explosives, dozens of propane tanks and two canisters of toxic chlorine gas, a new and nasty addition to the insurgents' arsenal, Keaveny said.

"Recently within Iraq, and specifically Baghdad, they have had insurgents use vehicle bombs with chlorine containers in the back," he said.

"Clearly, the enemy is trying to continue to dominate the local populace through fear and intimidation, and they've done it in some pretty barbaric ways. I think adding chlorine to the bombs is just another attempt at that."

Chlorine gas can be lethal. It causes nausea and choking, and burns eyes and skin, he said.

The operation took 25 to 26 hours altogether, Keaveny said, because the "battalion level" force had to make its way through a line of 11 improvised explosive devices and small arms fire to get to the place, then spend more hours searching it.

When they first got the tip, the members of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment "thought we might find some buried munitions, that type of site," he said. "When we got there what we found was a five-building facility" about 500 meters long and 300 meters wide.

Keaveny is commander of the battalion.

The soldiers also found four vehicles, including a truck with 65 propane tanks -- commonly used in car bombs and other enemy explosive devices -- as well as mortar and artillery rounds, an old Soviet bomb, jugs of nitric acid and bags of fertilizer.

One building housed a metal shop with arc welders, sanders and more propane tanks, "all used in the construction of IEDs," Keaveny said. Other buildings appeared to be living quarters.

The facility was virtually deserted when they arrived. Keaveny said troops detained one man.

Propane tanks are commonly used throughout Iraq, he said, and the chlorine canisters were of a type used in water purification or treatment plants.

Keaveny said his troops have been operating since Christmas in a zone that had not been patrolled by coalition forces for many months. Over the weeks since, residents have grown more comfortable with the American soldiers, he said.

"The interaction is increasing; it's improving."