Some Iraq bombs made in Iran - NYTimes report 06 Aug 2005 05:02:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
NEW YORK, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Some sophisticated new roadside bombs being used against U.S. and Iraqi troops are being designed in Iran and shipped from there, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Citing U.S. military and intelligence officials, the Times said the information about the origin of the new weapons suggests a new level of cooperation between Iranian Shi'ite Muslims and Iraqi Sunnis against the U.S. presence in Iraq. The commanders told the newspaper this was puzzling given increasing sectarian violence within Iraq.
According to military bomb experts, the new weapons are designed specifically to target armored vehicles. They first began appearing about two months ago, and one senior military officer said "tens" of them had been brought into Iraq and used against coalition forces, killing or wounding several U.S. troops in recent weeks, the Times said.
"These are among the most sophisticated and most lethal devices we've seen," the Times quoted a senior officer as saying. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate intelligence reports describing the bombs.
"It's very serious," he said in the report.
Some shipments may have been brought over the Iranian border by Hizbollah or Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Pentagon and intelligence officials said. The bombs closely match those used by Hizbollah against Israel.
U.S. officials said they had no evidence of the Iranian government's involvement.
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