Afghan bomb disposal expert defuses suicide bomber’s vest

Mike Krumboltz
An Afghan bomb technician in a protective suit approaches a suicide bomber. (Parwiz/Reuters)
An Afghan bomb technician in a protective suit approaches a suicide bomber. (Parwiz/Reuters)

An Afghan bomb disposal expert defused a would-be suicide bomber's explosives-laden vest in Jalalabad on Sunday.

A suicide bomber lies on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, after a bomb expert defused his explosive vest. (Parwiz/Reuters)
A suicide bomber lies on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, after a bomb expert defused his explosive vest. (Parwiz/Reuters)

Afghan security forces captured the bomber before he was able to blow himself up. They then tied him up to prevent him from detonating the bomb attached to his chest.

Afghan soldiers watch over a suicide bomber in Jalalabad on Sunday. Grenades and a gun are in the foreground, out of the bomber's reach. (Parwiz/Reuters)
Afghan soldiers watch over a suicide bomber in Jalalabad on Sunday. Grenades and a gun are in the foreground, out of the bomber's reach. (Parwiz/Reuters)

Before the suicide bomber could be interrogated, a bomb disposal expert had to approach him and defuse the vest in a scene eerily reminiscent of Academy Award-winning film "The Hurt Locker."

After the bomb was defused, the alleged suicide bomber was loaded into the back of a pickup truck and taken in to custody for questioning.

Last month, nine children and two soldiers with NATO's International Security Assistance Force were killed in a suicide bombing near Kabul, Afghanistan.

In a separate incident last month, a suicide bomber's vehicle exploded in front of the Supreme Court in Kabul, killing 17 people and injuring dozens of others.