Martin Reardon, a former FBI counterterrorism officer and current senior vice president of strategic security firm the Soufan Group, told VICE News that it was likely that the FBI's evidence response team had already thoroughly swept the apartment to look for things like cellphones and laptops, as well as other physical evidence, such as explosive residue, IEDs, weapons, and any letters.
"If I read this correctly, it means that in Afghanistan we can't use the same anti-IED weapons we used in Iraq because the Afghan IEDs are less sophisticated than the Iraqi ones, and we will have to spend close to $2 billion dollars to fix the problem.
Soldiers have to deal with IEDs and weapon fire where Michigan drivers have to pilot over post-Winter sinkholes.
"We believe Daesh is weaker than in the past, so they need to defend themselves with mine, IEDs and chemical weapons," he added, using another term for the Islamic State.
Although Nepal is 'minefield free', incidents involving IED explosions continue to occur, in part because numerous armed groups are still using IEDs as their main weapon.
"You know, 'I survived IEDs (improvised explosive devices), bazookas, whatever.' ".
Lt. Gen. Michael D. Barbero, director of JIEDDO, told The Huffington Post this spring that he expects the Afghan insurgents to continue to rely on the IED as "the weapon of choice".
IEDs have been the predominant weapon of insurgents in the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, and, because of their low cost, ease of employment, and high effectiveness, they will continue to be the weapon of choice for guerrillas and insurgents for the foreseeable future.
"The threat is getting more lethal in that the IEDs - that is the weapon of choice - are widespread on the ground.
In the Baramcha area on the Afghan side of the border, the Taliban have until recently maintained a major base, with IED (improvised explosive device) factories, weapons caches and residential camps.
IEDs have become the signature weapon of this war and have taken a devastating toll on our military.
