By CHAD GARLAND | STARS AND STRIPES Published: May 3, 2021
A series of blasts in a cache of seized Taliban rocket-propelled grenades threw three Green Berets several feet, and then the gear they were wearing began to burn setting off ammunition in rifle magazines.
Special Forces soldiers were sifting through a munitions cache seized in a school Taliban militants had used as a base, when suddenly a blast ripped through the stockpile and hurled the soldiers several feet.
The flames then ignited some of the Green Berets’ gear and set off ammunition in their rifle magazines.
“The first thing that comes to mind is fire,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Rogers, a pararescueman who treated seven people wounded in the 2019 blast, later found to be the result of a partner force member’s negligent weapon discharge. “There were so many things covered in fuel and burning. It looked apocalyptic.”