Amateurish bomb making claims scores of terrorists across Iraq

By Mohammed al-Qaisi in Baghdad
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-08-30

[-/AFP/Getty Images] Scores of terrorists have been killed in recent weeks by accidental explosions.

Fourteen terrorists were killed and three were wounded across Iraq last week when their car bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) detonated prematurely, security officials announced Saturday (August 28th).

Officials said the accidental detonations were likely due to lack of bomb-making experience and the fact that Iraqi security forces have seized large quantities of explosives and weapons in recent months.

"Terrorists have started to resort to compounded and complex materials for making car bombs and IEDs after facing a huge crisis in their stock of weapons and explosives," said Maj. Gen. Jihad al-Jabri, director of the explosive ordnance disposal bureau in Baghdad.

Ramadi police chief Col. Salih al-Dulaimi said two terrorists were killed on August 26th while attempting to plant an IED.

"The IED exploded while they were trying to plant it and killed them right away," al-Dulaimi said.

"They have been identified. Thanks to that, we managed to arrest a whole network that makes these IEDs."

Two weeks earlier, a car bomb exploded when terrorists tried to park the car near a gas station in central Ramadi. Al-Dulaimi said the explosion killed three terrorists and wounded a fourth, who was taken in custody.

"It is as if God wants to protect the people against their evil," he said. "They were the victims of their own evil deeds."

In Fallujah, city police chief Brig. Gen. Mahmoud al-Issawi said a number of terrorists were killed on August 24th when they were planting an IED on al-Tharthar Street.

"The terrorists turned into charred bodies because of that IED," al-Issawi said. "God has spared the lives of innocents by taking the lives of those murderers."

"Confusion on the part of the terrorists and their fear of being arrested in the act made them rush and commit mistakes, causing the IEDs to explode in their faces," al-Issawi said.

Capt. Sohail al-Obaidi of Mosul police said one terrorist was killed and another lost his leg in al-Ghazlani, northwest of Mosul, while trying to put a timer on an IED.

"The IED exploded suddenly while they were trying to place it in a hole on the side of a street," al-Obaidi said. "The policemen found the body of a terrorist torn to pieces, while the other was lying on the ground after losing his leg and sustaining serious wounds."

Al-Obaidi said accidental explosions of IEDs and car bombs have increased significantly recently, prompting the police to open a record of these accidents to examine their causes.

Col. Khalid Issa, director of the explosive ordnance disposal unit in Mosul, said in the past, terrorists used pre-made explosives found in caches of the former Iraqi army.

"Today, after Iraqi forces seized most of such explosives and cracked down on them, the [terrorists] started using dangerous materials with chemical reactions that explode in their faces with any friction, heat, or vibration. We are noticing this development in all cities across Iraq," Issa said.

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