As more weapons seized, roadside bombings at three-year low

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As more weapons seized, roadside bombings at three-year low
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 7, 2007


BAGHDAD — Roadside bomb attacks receded to a three-year low last month while weapons cache finds have doubled from October 2006, Multi-National Force–Iraq officials said Tuesday.

Roadside bomb explosions averaged 20 per day in October, compared with a high of about 65 per day at the same time last year.

Last month’s figure matches a September 2004 low and is the first time attacks have averaged fewer than 30 per day in a month since February 2006.

Meanwhile, 5,364 weapons caches were found in October, compared with 2,667 during the same time last year, officials said.

Total indirect fire attacks, which include rocket and mortar attacks, also dropped monthly from almost 1,000 in June to fewer than 400 in October, they said.

Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, director of MNFI’s communication division, said the numbers were encouraging but he didn’t draw any larger conclusions.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50089