IED attacks plummet in Iraq; on rise in Afghanistan

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IED attacks plummet in Iraq; on rise in Afghanistan
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, August 5, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — Explosively Formed Penetrator attacks in Iraq are “way down over the past couple of months,” said the head of the Joint IED Defeat Organization.

The number of EFPs that U.S. troops encountered in July was “in the teens,” Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz told reporters Wednesday.

“I think it’s probably connected with Sadr’s militia and his direction to calm down,” Metz said.

Widely known as “EFPs,” the penetrators are a particularly deadly type of roadside bomb that fire a slug of high density metal at a high velocity, giving the penetrator much more power than roadside bombs of similar size made from artillery shells.

Since he became head of JIEDDO in December, EFPs have made up between 5 percent and 10 percent of all roadside bombs per month, but they have accounted for 40 percent of casualties, Metz said at Wednesday’s roundtable.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56617