Iraq bombers one step ahead of US

The bombing of a mosque in the Iraqi town of Musayyib is the deadliest single attack in Iraq for months.

The weekend began on Friday with a day-long series of car bombs in Baghdad that claimed at least 22 lives.

The attacks came as the US was claiming some success in reducing the number of car bomb attacks.

Their campaign was focused in Baghdad, where the security forces have been running an offensive called Operation Lightning for a number of weeks.

Vulnerable areas

It is reckoned that most car bombs are assembled fairly close to where they are set off, to avoid them being intercepted.

So military intelligence officials have plotted the location of the attacks, and carried out a series of security sweeps to find the workshops where car bombs are put together.

The military has also increased patrols of the most vulnerable targets, such as the notorious road that connects Baghdad's airport with the city centre.

But in response, the bombers have changed their tactics as well.

Some suicide bombers are sent on foot, with the explosives strapped around their waists, to attack targets protected against car bombs.

In Musayyib on Saturday, the bomber simply blew up a fuel truck - so there was no car bomb for the police to protect against.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4691181.stm