Deaths from IED attacks up in Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

Deaths from IED attacks up in Afghanistan
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, March 9, 2009

Makeshift bomb attacks in Afghanistan killed three times as many coalition troops in the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, USA Today reported Monday.

Improvised explosive devices killed 32 coalition troops in January and February, compared to 10 during the same period in 2008.

During the same time, 96 troops were wounded, a 146 percent increase from the 39 early last year, the paper reported, sourcing data from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. The numbers are final for January and preliminary for February, USA Today noted.

Charles McMinn, deputy research manager for HMS, a counter-IED consulting firm that provides information to the Pentagon, told USA Today that militants also appear to be using more sophisticated and powerful bombs, accounting for greater casualties.

"It’s a reflection of the increased activity of the Taliban," Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., was quoted as saying. "They’re adopting the tactics used by insurgents in Iraq."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61216