Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
April 4, 2008
Pg. 1
Bombing tactic used in Russia, India, elsewhere
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Makeshift bomb attacks by insurgents — common in Iraq and Afghanistan — are on the rise in other countries, prompting concerns by military experts that the tactic is becoming the weapon of choice by terrorist groups worldwide.
There are 200 to 300 improvised explosive attacks each month outside Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Triton Report. Triton is part of the British consulting firm HMS Ltd., which provides counter-IED training for the U.S. government and other governments and businesses. The IED threat outside Iraq and Afghanistan increased steadily in 2006 and 2007 and is on a pace to exceed those numbers in 2008, said Irene Smith, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).
About 600 IEDs explode each month in Iraq, according to the U.S. military. There were 64 bombings in Afghanistan in February, the Triton report said, including a suicide attack that killed more than 100 with an IED in Kandahar on Feb. 17.
"We've got to beat this weapon system because the enemy is using it for a strategic reason: to change our decisions," said Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, who leads JIEDDO. "What you don't want to happen is for that number to go to 2,000 or 3,000 around the world outside of Afghanistan and Iraq."
Terrorists realize the IEDs can have more impact than attacks with small weapons, Smith said. "Things that go boom draw more attention than things that go bang," she said in an e-mail.
The Triton report detailed how terrorist groups hide IEDs in balls and children's toys, notably in Colombia and the West Bank.
IED technology can be adopted easily elsewhere, says Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "This is the urgent threat facing us now," he said. "It's one of the few things capable of defeating us."
Last year, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Russia and Nepal were among the countries with the most IED activity outside Iraq and Afghanistan, according to JIEDDO, which relies on the Triton report for data on attacks. Among the IED attacks in February, included in the report:
•Sri Lanka: On Feb. 2, an IED killed 20 people and injured 80 at a bus stop.
•Somalia: On Feb. 3, a bomb blew up a bus in Mogadishu, killing five and wounding 10 others.
•India: On Feb. 8, guerrillas killed two members of Indian security forces and wounded four others with a makeshift bomb. On Feb. 27, an IED strapped to a bicycle killed one and wounded 14. Bomb attacks in India have doubled since 2006, the report said. The report cites 15 attacks in February.
•Venezuela: On Feb. 24, a bomb blew up outside the national Chamber of Commerce building in Caracas, killing a police inspector.
•Thailand: On Feb. 27, anti-government militants killed a person with a bomb buried in a roadway. Four people were wounded.
April 4, 2008
Pg. 1
Bombing tactic used in Russia, India, elsewhere
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Makeshift bomb attacks by insurgents — common in Iraq and Afghanistan — are on the rise in other countries, prompting concerns by military experts that the tactic is becoming the weapon of choice by terrorist groups worldwide.
There are 200 to 300 improvised explosive attacks each month outside Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Triton Report. Triton is part of the British consulting firm HMS Ltd., which provides counter-IED training for the U.S. government and other governments and businesses. The IED threat outside Iraq and Afghanistan increased steadily in 2006 and 2007 and is on a pace to exceed those numbers in 2008, said Irene Smith, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).
About 600 IEDs explode each month in Iraq, according to the U.S. military. There were 64 bombings in Afghanistan in February, the Triton report said, including a suicide attack that killed more than 100 with an IED in Kandahar on Feb. 17.
"We've got to beat this weapon system because the enemy is using it for a strategic reason: to change our decisions," said Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, who leads JIEDDO. "What you don't want to happen is for that number to go to 2,000 or 3,000 around the world outside of Afghanistan and Iraq."
Terrorists realize the IEDs can have more impact than attacks with small weapons, Smith said. "Things that go boom draw more attention than things that go bang," she said in an e-mail.
The Triton report detailed how terrorist groups hide IEDs in balls and children's toys, notably in Colombia and the West Bank.
IED technology can be adopted easily elsewhere, says Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "This is the urgent threat facing us now," he said. "It's one of the few things capable of defeating us."
Last year, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Russia and Nepal were among the countries with the most IED activity outside Iraq and Afghanistan, according to JIEDDO, which relies on the Triton report for data on attacks. Among the IED attacks in February, included in the report:
•Sri Lanka: On Feb. 2, an IED killed 20 people and injured 80 at a bus stop.
•Somalia: On Feb. 3, a bomb blew up a bus in Mogadishu, killing five and wounding 10 others.
•India: On Feb. 8, guerrillas killed two members of Indian security forces and wounded four others with a makeshift bomb. On Feb. 27, an IED strapped to a bicycle killed one and wounded 14. Bomb attacks in India have doubled since 2006, the report said. The report cites 15 attacks in February.
•Venezuela: On Feb. 24, a bomb blew up outside the national Chamber of Commerce building in Caracas, killing a police inspector.
•Thailand: On Feb. 27, anti-government militants killed a person with a bomb buried in a roadway. Four people were wounded.