A northern alliance fighter holds a $25,000,000 USA reward leaflet for Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri written in the Dari language near the fortress outside Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan. Information about the monetary reward was proclaimed in both leaflets and over radio broadcasts. Units of Alpha and Bravo companies of the 17th Psychological Operations Battalion (POB) dropped the leaflets. The award has since been increased to $50,000,000 USA.

Coalition Forces Deploy Arsenal of Psychological Warfare Weapons in Iraq & Afghanistan

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend time with the personnel of the 7th Psychological Operations Group, a US Army reserve unit performing Psychological Operations (PSYOP) and Psychological Warfare (PSYWAR) missions in support of counter insurgency (COIN) activities in the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) sectors of Iraq and Afghanistan.

FRONT TRANSLATION: Taliban and Al Qaida fighters, we know where you are hiding

BACK TRANSLATION: Taliban and Al Qaida fighters, you are our targets

Theatre operations included radio transmissions and the aerial drop of informational leaflets from C-130 aircraft using the 200-lb M129 leaflet bomb (pictured below). Capable of holding approximately 60,000 to 80,000 leaflets, the bomb explodes at a lower altitude through the use of a timer allowing the rolled leaflets to be released and scattered. Before the leaflets are placed in the bomb, a detonating cord is placed in the seam between the two bomb halves. When the bomb is released, the fuse functions at a predetermined time, detonating the primer cord separating the two body sections, detaching the fins, and releasing the leaflets. Some of the more interesting images and messages are illustrated below.

FRONT TRANSLATION: UP TO $25,000,000 REWARD
AIMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI     OSAMA BIN LADEN

BACK TRANSLATION: UP TO $25,000,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE WHEREABOUTS OR CAPTURE OF THESE TWO MEN!

FRONT TRANSLATION:  This leaflet reveals two messages. First that the Afghan people do not have to live under the harsh rule of the Taliban, and second that America is their friend and not their enemy in this campaign against terrorism and all those who support it.

BACK TRANSLATION: No one should tell you how to live. The Partnership of Nations will help rescue the Afghan people from Taliban criminals and foreign terrorist.

FRONT TRANSLATION: Muttawakil    Bin Laden     Haqqani
“THE TALIBAN’S REIGN OF FEAR

BACK TRANSLATION: Muttawakil    Bin Laden     Haqqani
“…IS ABOUT TO END

A northern alliance fighter stands with his gun, right, as Afghan people gather around various munitions for instruction as part of an anti mine awareness campaign in Herat, Afghanistan.

Afghan and coalition soldiers discovered several underground weapons caches in the Deh Rawood district of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2008. In one weapons cache, 12 rocket-propelled grenades and boxes of 7.62 mm ammunition were stockpiled in a 15-foot hole.

Insignia of 17th PSYOP Battalion.

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