WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of roadside bombs planted in Iraq rose in July to its highest monthly total of the war, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The data offers more evidence that the anti-American insurgency has continued to strengthen in Iraq despite the killing of the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the report said.
Along with a sharp increase in sectarian attacks, the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has doubled since January, it said.
The deadliest means of attack, roadside bombs, made up much of that increase.
In July, of 2,625 explosive devices, 1,666 exploded and 959 were discovered before they went off. In January, 1,454 bombs exploded or were found.
An analysis of the 1,666 bombs that exploded in July showed that 70 percent were directed against the American-led military forces, 20 percent struck Iraqi security forces, up from 9 percent in 2005, and 10 percent of the blasts struck civilians, twice the rate of last year, according to the report, citing a spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad.
While the number of Americans killed in action per month had declined slightly - to 38 killed in action in July, from 42 in January, in part reflecting improvements in armor and other defenses - the number of Americans wounded had soared, to 518 in July from 287 in January. Explosive devices accounted for slightly more than half the deaths.
"The insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels," the newspaper quoted a senior Defense Department official as saying.
The insurgency had more public support and was demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time, the official said.
A separate, classified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated August 3, detailed worsening security conditions inside the country and described how Iraq risked sliding toward civil war, the report said, citing several officials. Enditem
