Insurgents changing bomb tactics

WASHINGTON – Insurgents in Iraq are adjusting their tactics and using bigger and more powerful explosives to target the vulnerable undersides of armored Humvees and other military vehicles, according to a Pentagon group assigned to find ways to counter roadside bombs.

Since July 24, at least 17 U.S. soldiers and Marines have been killed by such attacks, according to Defense Department press releases and on-the-scene media reports.

“The terrorists are now using larger, more powerful IEDs, and they are attacking the undercarriages of our vehicles now, where the armor is not as thick as on the sides,” said Richard Bridges, a spokesman for the Joint IED Defeat Task Force. “They are also, in some instances, using home-engineered shaped charges that are more effective at penetrating armor.”

IED is an acronym for “improvised explosive device,” which the military uses to describe various bomb attacks, but which is used most frequently to describe the roadside explosions. A “shaped charge” makes a blast more powerful by directing the force of the explosion toward the target.

In July, IEDs claimed 39 lives among multinational troops in Iraq, the highest monthly total since the war began in March 2003. Of those, 36 were Americans, tying June’s U.S. total and continuing a trend of IEDs being the No. 1 cause of U.S. casualties, according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a Web site that compiles statistics on U.S. and allied casualties based on Defense Department press releases and media reports.

In May, 33 Americans were killed by IEDs. The worst previous month was January, when IEDs killed 29 U.S. soldiers. At least 448 U.S. service members have been killed by IEDs in Iraq in the past two years. They constitute nearly one-third of the 1,402 U.S. troops killed by hostile fire, according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.