IED casualties in Iraq drop sharply

[unhappycamper]

IED casualties in Iraq drop sharply
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Sep 28, 2008 17:52:48 EDT

The number of roadside bombs in Iraq that exploded or were discovered and neutralized tumbled from a high of about 2,600 per month in March and June of 2007 to 555 in August 2008, a decrease of 79 percent.

Coalition casualties fell at a similar rate from August 2006 to August 2008, according to U.S. Central Command. The command says 47 troops were killed by roadside bombs in August 2006, but only seven this past August — an 85 percent decline. And while 384 troops were wounded by roadside bombs two years ago, that figure fell to 52 in August — an 86 percent reduction.

Roadside bombs remain the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. The military does not provide specific figures, but Pentagon data show that about 70 percent of combat deaths have been caused by roadside bombs. The Pentagon says 4,151 troops have died in Iraq since the start of the war.

The roadside bomb casualty figures, declassified for the first time by CentCom and provided to Military Times on Sept. 17 by the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, mirror a substantial reduction in violence in Iraq. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently told House lawmakers that while the situation in Iraq remains fragile, overall violence there has fallen 80 percent in the past year.

The improving situation has prompted President Bush to bring another 8,000 troops home from Iraq by early February and bump up U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, where coalition forces are fighting a revitalized insurgency.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/military_ied_statistics_iraq_092808w/%2e