US sees decline in Iran-linked bombs found in Iraq
Source: Reuters
By Andrew Gray WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The number of armor-piercing bombs which the United States says have been provided by Iran has declined in Iraq in the past few months, a senior U.S. commander said on Thursday. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. top commander in Iraq for day-to-day operations, said it was too soon to say whether the drop meant Iran had cut back on smuggling arms into Iraq. Washington accuses Iran of supplying so-called explosively formed penetrators or projectiles (EFPs), a particularly deadly form of roadside bomb, to extremists in Iraq, mainly Shi'ite militias. Iran denies fueling violence in Iraq. With EFP attacks killing U.S. troops, Iran's role in Iraq has added to tension between the U.S. and Iranian governments, which are also at odds over Iran's nuclear program. "Although we still have, in my mind, way too many explosively formed projectiles, in the last few months that has been on a downward trend," said Odierno, briefing reporters at the Pentagon by videolink from Iraq. Odierno, the commander of Multi National Corps Iraq, said his force had recorded 53 EFP incidents in October -- 30 explosions and 23 devices found before they had detonated. The total in September was 52, in August it was 78 and in July it was a record high 99, Odierno said. He said the current level was still higher than in January, February and March of this year. "I'm still watching that extremely closely," he said. Citing U.S. and Iraqi officials, the Los Angeles Times reported in September that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in August he would stop the flow of weapons and other support for militias. Odierno said it was hard to draw conclusions about any change in Iranian activity yet because, when his troops discovered a cache of EFP components, it was not always clear when they had been brought into the country. He said one of the largest EFP caches had been discovered just a week ago but the U.S. military's initial assessment was that it may have been brought into the country in January. "They might have slowed the rate of sending EFPs in, I just can't tell you right now because it's too soon. I think in a couple more months we'll be able to give you a better idea of that," Odierno said.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
