2RHPZ
05-12-2004, 06:42 PM
Terrorists spread knowledge
CAMP ANACONDA, IRAQ
Iraqis learn ambush methods from Chechen, Afghan guerrillas
By JIM KRANE
Associated Press Writer
Iraqi guerrillas blasting U.S. military convoys with improvised bombs
hidden at roadsides may have learned tactics by talking to Chechen rebels
and Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan, a U.S. Army intelligence
officer told The Associated Press.
Iraqi rebels have been communicating with such outsiders through e-mail,
telephone and personal visits, said Maj. Thomas Sirois, chief intelligence
officer of the Army's 3rd Corps Support Command, which occupies this
sprawling base north of Baghdad. He declined to identify the types of
communication American intelligence officers have intercepted.
"I think they share information," Sirois said. "Individuals here who are
fighting against us I'm sure are reaching out to see what has been
successful in other locations, and probably trying to adapt those
procedures here."
Some ambush techniques observed in Chechnya against the Russians and in
Afghanistan against U.S. forces by al-Qaida and former Taliban militants
"we've seen employed here" in Iraq, Sirois said.
Like Iraq, recent conflicts in Chechnya and Afghanistan saw Islamic
guerrillas hiding at roadsides to ambush military convoys with
booby-trapped bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.
One Middle East military analyst said information being shared from Afghan
and Chechen sources is probably technical assistance with fuses,
remote-control detonators ? like cell phones ? and assembling the complex
daisy-chained bombs that began appearing in Iraq in late summer.
Since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, with the March
invasion, 483 American troops have died, according to the Defense
Department. Of those, 330 died as a result of hostile action.
Suicide bombings blamed on Chechen separatists have killed more than 275
people in and around Chechnya and in Moscow in the past year. Russian
troops in Chechnya suffer daily losses in rebel attacks and land-mine
explosions.
"There will be people out there with the expertise who will be very happy
to share it, because they want to see the U.S. project in Iraq fail," said
Jeremy Binnie, with Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments in London. "With
the technical things, there is some level of cooperation because they can
get quite sophisticated."
Sirois monitors intelligence on Iraq's roads for the Army's 16,000-member
3rd Coscom, which operates the thousands of truck convoys traveling across
Iraq each day, supplying U.S. military with fuel, food, water and other
supplies. Attacks on the convoys grew more complex in the late summer and
fall, with the number of attacks rising each month from May to November.
The number of highway ambushes ? usually involving roadside bombs ? began
dropping in late November and through December, Sirois said. Still, on
Monday, three U.S. soldiers were wounded when a bomb exploded as their
convoy passed near a town north of Baghdad.
U.S. military and intelligence officials have long said they believe
members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network have migrated to
Iraq, but little evidence has been released to support their assertions.
Sirois said he and other intelligence officers believe al-Qaida members
are in Iraq but have seen no signs of Chechens or Afghans launching
attacks alongside Iraqi guerrillas.
Some tactics used to attack U.S. convoys were homegrown as well, Sirois
said, noting there is plenty of expertise among disaffected members of the
disbanded Iraqi army.
The effectiveness of the roadside bombs, which the U.S. military calls
IEDs or "improvised explosive devices," depends on them being carefully
hidden on the edges of the convoy routes and detonated when an
unsuspecting convoy passes.
The Army has found bombs disguised as curbs. Others have been hidden in
lampposts, animal carcasses and the Army's ubiquitous brown plastic ration
bags.
"We've seen some pretty ingenious disguises," Sirois told AP last week.
"You name it, they hide IEDs in just about anything ? tires at the sides
of roads, trash piles."
At the same time, Sirois said the ambushers' influence on American convoys
was slipping, with 250 attacks in November and 200 in December. Perhaps
more significantly, the rebels' bombs have grown smaller, less complex and
less deadly, he said.
At the height of their attacks ? from late August to early November ?
rebels were able to interconnect 15 or more large artillery shells into a
single bomb that may have been assembled and buried at the side of a
highway over a period several nights or a week, he said. Some bombs used
plastic explosives as well as artillery or mortar shells.
But for the past six weeks, most bombs have been smaller, sometimes a
single, converted artillery or mortar round.
"Where in the past we've seen casualties and significant damage to our
vehicles, lately the IEDs have been single rounds and they've done minimal
damage to our vehicles," he said.
During December, the 3rd Coscom has seen one or two of its convoys
attacked each day, with fewer than 10 casualties as of Dec. 30, Sirois
said.
Since arriving in Iraq in late March, the 3rd Coscom has had four soldiers
killed in action and 130 wounded ? with the most devastating attacks
taking place in late summer and fall, Sirois said.
He attributes the drop in U.S. casualties to several factors, including
the killing or capture of Iraqi insurgents and the seizing of their
ammunition. The military has also cleared the roadsides of brush, trees
and trash, removing hiding places. Last week, U.S. soldiers could be seen
bulldozing huge eucalyptus trees that line the main highway north of Camp
Anaconda.
©1998-2003 Lewiston Sun Journal
CAMP ANACONDA, IRAQ
Iraqis learn ambush methods from Chechen, Afghan guerrillas
By JIM KRANE
Associated Press Writer
Iraqi guerrillas blasting U.S. military convoys with improvised bombs
hidden at roadsides may have learned tactics by talking to Chechen rebels
and Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan, a U.S. Army intelligence
officer told The Associated Press.
Iraqi rebels have been communicating with such outsiders through e-mail,
telephone and personal visits, said Maj. Thomas Sirois, chief intelligence
officer of the Army's 3rd Corps Support Command, which occupies this
sprawling base north of Baghdad. He declined to identify the types of
communication American intelligence officers have intercepted.
"I think they share information," Sirois said. "Individuals here who are
fighting against us I'm sure are reaching out to see what has been
successful in other locations, and probably trying to adapt those
procedures here."
Some ambush techniques observed in Chechnya against the Russians and in
Afghanistan against U.S. forces by al-Qaida and former Taliban militants
"we've seen employed here" in Iraq, Sirois said.
Like Iraq, recent conflicts in Chechnya and Afghanistan saw Islamic
guerrillas hiding at roadsides to ambush military convoys with
booby-trapped bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.
One Middle East military analyst said information being shared from Afghan
and Chechen sources is probably technical assistance with fuses,
remote-control detonators ? like cell phones ? and assembling the complex
daisy-chained bombs that began appearing in Iraq in late summer.
Since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, with the March
invasion, 483 American troops have died, according to the Defense
Department. Of those, 330 died as a result of hostile action.
Suicide bombings blamed on Chechen separatists have killed more than 275
people in and around Chechnya and in Moscow in the past year. Russian
troops in Chechnya suffer daily losses in rebel attacks and land-mine
explosions.
"There will be people out there with the expertise who will be very happy
to share it, because they want to see the U.S. project in Iraq fail," said
Jeremy Binnie, with Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments in London. "With
the technical things, there is some level of cooperation because they can
get quite sophisticated."
Sirois monitors intelligence on Iraq's roads for the Army's 16,000-member
3rd Coscom, which operates the thousands of truck convoys traveling across
Iraq each day, supplying U.S. military with fuel, food, water and other
supplies. Attacks on the convoys grew more complex in the late summer and
fall, with the number of attacks rising each month from May to November.
The number of highway ambushes ? usually involving roadside bombs ? began
dropping in late November and through December, Sirois said. Still, on
Monday, three U.S. soldiers were wounded when a bomb exploded as their
convoy passed near a town north of Baghdad.
U.S. military and intelligence officials have long said they believe
members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network have migrated to
Iraq, but little evidence has been released to support their assertions.
Sirois said he and other intelligence officers believe al-Qaida members
are in Iraq but have seen no signs of Chechens or Afghans launching
attacks alongside Iraqi guerrillas.
Some tactics used to attack U.S. convoys were homegrown as well, Sirois
said, noting there is plenty of expertise among disaffected members of the
disbanded Iraqi army.
The effectiveness of the roadside bombs, which the U.S. military calls
IEDs or "improvised explosive devices," depends on them being carefully
hidden on the edges of the convoy routes and detonated when an
unsuspecting convoy passes.
The Army has found bombs disguised as curbs. Others have been hidden in
lampposts, animal carcasses and the Army's ubiquitous brown plastic ration
bags.
"We've seen some pretty ingenious disguises," Sirois told AP last week.
"You name it, they hide IEDs in just about anything ? tires at the sides
of roads, trash piles."
At the same time, Sirois said the ambushers' influence on American convoys
was slipping, with 250 attacks in November and 200 in December. Perhaps
more significantly, the rebels' bombs have grown smaller, less complex and
less deadly, he said.
At the height of their attacks ? from late August to early November ?
rebels were able to interconnect 15 or more large artillery shells into a
single bomb that may have been assembled and buried at the side of a
highway over a period several nights or a week, he said. Some bombs used
plastic explosives as well as artillery or mortar shells.
But for the past six weeks, most bombs have been smaller, sometimes a
single, converted artillery or mortar round.
"Where in the past we've seen casualties and significant damage to our
vehicles, lately the IEDs have been single rounds and they've done minimal
damage to our vehicles," he said.
During December, the 3rd Coscom has seen one or two of its convoys
attacked each day, with fewer than 10 casualties as of Dec. 30, Sirois
said.
Since arriving in Iraq in late March, the 3rd Coscom has had four soldiers
killed in action and 130 wounded ? with the most devastating attacks
taking place in late summer and fall, Sirois said.
He attributes the drop in U.S. casualties to several factors, including
the killing or capture of Iraqi insurgents and the seizing of their
ammunition. The military has also cleared the roadsides of brush, trees
and trash, removing hiding places. Last week, U.S. soldiers could be seen
bulldozing huge eucalyptus trees that line the main highway north of Camp
Anaconda.
©1998-2003 Lewiston Sun Journal