Iraqi insurgents and al Qaeda terrorists have developed new killing tactics every time the U.S.-led coalition comes up with ways to better protect its soldiers.
Most recently, the insurgents have turned to in-home explosive devices to ambush American troops clearing houses in Baghdad and other areas.
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More powerful than typical booby traps, the devices are akin to the improvised explosive devices that have caused themajority of deaths among U.S. troops in Iraq. IEDs typically consist of artillery shells and an electronic trigger that is activated by a remotely controlled device such as a cell phone.
The in-home devices have been “more prevalent in the past weeks and months than we had seen previously,” Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, Pentagon director of operations, said Thursday. “A very, very dangerous threat.”
The evolution of the IED attacks show how the insurgents learn to foil coalition countermeasures. When surveillance units became skilled at spotting IEDs along roadsides, insurgents moved them to utility poles.
As soldiers shifted to larger armored vehicles for protection, the enemy built larger IEDs. Shiites then turned to Iran for Explosively Formed Projectiles so powerful that their blasts penetrate heavily armored vehicles, such as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and M1 tank.
When the U.S. fielded various electronic jammers to block remote control signals, insurgents began using hardwired ignition that cannot be jammed.
By hiding IEDs inside homes, insurgents catch soldiers and Marines with no vehicle protection, only bullet-resistant armored vests.
“As they’re entering and clearing a building, that’s a vulnerable time for them,” Ham said. “So that’s a tough threat, and the soldiers are working very hard to counter that.”
