The use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by insurgents in Afghanistan increased in January this year, at least when compared to records from the same period the previous year, according to Pentagon data. The winter weather did not seem to stop insurgents from setting up roadside bombs targeting U.S. and allied troops, with the number of blasts as well as the number of casualties more than doubling in number versus last year’s count, according to a report on the Navy Times.

According to data from the Pentagon, there were only 276 bombs that were found in January of 2009. This past January, 727 bombs were found by coalition troops. There were 32 U.S. and allied troops that were killed and 137 wounded by IED blasts in January 2010, compared with 14 killed and 64 injured in January 2009. IEDs are considered as the number one reason for deaths among U.S. Troops in Afghanistan.

The increase in the number of blasts during the winter months is unusual, based on records from the same season in the previous years. Normally there would be a reduction of attacks waged by the Taliban and other insurgent groups during winter, at least in Afghanistan.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, US troops “launched the largest offensive in the eight-year war to oust the Taliban”. The operation was conducted in Marjah, considered as a stronghold of the Taliban in the southern region. Mines and roadside bombs that were planted by the insurgents constitute “the biggest threat” to coalition and Afghan troops. A number of these IEDs were found by coalition forces, while local residents gave “tips” on where bombs might be buried.