GOOD UP-CLOSE ACCOUNT of the attack on the 3d ID this week.

A sweet tooth might have prevented injury or death to the soldiers of 6th Platoon, 3rd Military Police Company, and 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, both of the 3rd Infantry Division.

The soldiers stopped a few moments before their planned 11 p.m. rendezvous to buy cups of soft serve ice cream from a local vendor — about 800 meters from the police station.

At 10:58, “Ka-boom!”

Short bursts of what sounded like an AK-47 followed.

“We gotta go,” team leader Sgt. Ron Mbuthia shouted to his team as they scurried to two armored Humvees and dashed up the street to investigate. “Go, go, go!”

After briefly inspecting the police station, and the roughly 2-foot crater in the graveled front yard, the MPs and infantry soldiers gave chase to a suspicious white car.

Read the whole thing here.