Outlook Weekend: The Bomb Disposal Men
British soldier Kim Hughes defused more than 100 IEDs in a single year, while Syrian Abu Ahmad used the internet to learn how to disable bombs after his nephew was nearly killed.
Abu Ahmad decided to start work defusing bombs planted by so-called Islamic State in Syria after his nephew was injured by one. He finds them booby trapped behind doors, under dead bodies and in wardrobes. As part of a team, he's helped disable thousands of bombs.
Kim Hughes is the British Army's most highly decorated bomb disposal expert. In 2009 the greatest threat to British soldiers in Afghanistan was IEDs - Improvised Explosive Devices, which killed and injured thousands of troops and civilians. Kim was awarded the George Cross after defusing an unprecedented 119 bombs in just six months in Afghanistan.
Image: An IED exploding while being destroyed by troops in Afghanistan.
Credit: John Moore/Getty Images
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- Sat 26 Aug 2017 07:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service except News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 28 Aug 2017 00:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service except News Internet
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