EDITORIAL : AZZAMAN, IRAQ

Homemade bomb targets U.S. convoy in restive Iraqi city

Homemade bombs have been the weapon of choice of Iraqi armed groups fighting U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Known as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in military parlance, these bombs are still the scourge of the remaining U.S. occupation troops in the country.

Most of U.S. military casualties, estimated at more 4,000 deaths and tens of thousands of injured, resulted from these bombs.

Iraqi armed groups claim that U.S. casualty figures are much higher and that the death toll among “U.S. mercenaries” (security guards) is in tens of thousands.

At the height of the insurgency against U.S. troops, there were reportedly more than 80,000 “security guards” who were said to have carried out some of the dirtiest fighting and operations in Iraq.

There are nearly 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, and these are supposed to leave by end of year.

As U.S. troops now prefer to stay within barracks, attacks by IEDs have dropped substantially.

One latest IED attack targeting a U.S. convoy occurred in the violent city of Baaquba, north of Baghdad.

Witnesses say the attack was massive and several vehicles were affected, but they could not confirm whether there were any casualties.

U.S. troops cordoned off the area and refused anyone from approaching the site of the attack.

Attacks by IEDs are most effective against little protected Iraqi troops. But these attacks usually go unreported.

Little attention is paid to Iraqi deaths by international media. Only the death of foreign troops grabs their attention.

Iraqi deaths have little or no significance in U.S. military eyes. U.S. troops keep no counts of the Iraqis they kill or injure.