A US marine runs to safety moments after an IED blast in Garmsir district of Helmand province. Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/GettyFrom DoD Buzz:
When Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced creation of yet another counter-IED Pentagon task force, he was clearly frustrated with the inability of the military, the intelligence agencies and industry to come up with answers to the simple yet devastatingly effective roadside bomb.
The number of IED “incidents” in Afghanistan, that is IEDs either found before detonating or actual IED attacks, have risen from around 100 a month during 2006 to over 800 a month this past summer; in August IED incidents topped 1,000. In 2006, 41 U.S. and NATO troops were killed by IEDs. So far this year, 260 coalition troops have been killed by IEDs, according to the web site icasualties.com that tracks troop casualties. IED casualties in Afghanistan don’t approach those of Iraq during the height of the fighting there when some days saw 100 IED incidents, but the trend lines are headed in the wrong direction. As more troops arrive, casualties are sure to increase.
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My Comment: The masters of the IED are still the Iraqis. They operated within the urban environment, and are/were very effective in targeting and striking at U.S./allied targets. The Taliban will have an impact with their IEDs, but better technology, experience, and fighting in a non-urban environment favors the allied forces .... not the Taliban. Unfortunately, casualties will continue and they will increase next year when the surge is completed and military operations are ongoing.