Iran's killer bombs found

The Sun:

From TOM NEWTON-DUNN

Defence Editor, in Al Amarah, Iraq

Bombs seized ... wherecargo was found

A HUGE cache of hi-tech bomb-making kit has been seized from terrorist smugglers crossing from Iran into Iraq.

The find included detonators, military-style charges and a whopping 100kg of plastic explosives — enough to flatten a tower block.

Exactly the same technology was used in five devastating roadside bombs that killed eight British soldiers recently.

Iraqi forces seized the cargo in a sparsely-populated border area in desolate Maysan province, which is largely scrub and marshland.

This is the first hard proof of Iran’s highly controversial sponsorship of terrorism against Our Boys in southern Iraq.

Military sources said the leadership in Tehran must have authorised the moving of such a large and lethal consignment.

Last night one said: “It’s inconceivable this sort of highly sophisticated material can cross the border without some very important people in Iran knowing about it.

Foiled ... Iraqi officers capture insurgent with cache this week

“We cannot publicly accuse Tehran yet — but this is as close as it comes to catching the Iranians red-handed — without actually seeing them pull the trigger.”

The seizure happened in July but was kept secret before being confirmed for the first time yesterday by British military in Basra. It cranks up tensions further between Iran’s Ayatollahs and furious politicians in London.

PM Tony Blair has already accused elite troops from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of giving insurgents the deadly new bombs to kill British soldiers.

Earlier this week defence sources in Iraq piled on the pressure by insisting the Iranians were also running training camps in Iran. And yesterday Captain Will Blackhurst of the Staffordshire Regiment Battle Group based in Camp abu Naji — which has lost five members to the new bombs — hinted the terrorists’ tactics have evolved recently.

He said: “The enemy is fighting a far cleverer war than he did last year and his skills and tactics have improved greatly.”

Last night a spokesman for British forces in Iraq said: “We can confirm that there was a large find reported by the Iraqi Department for Border Enforcement.

“It was a great success for everyone in Iraq as it has taken a large amount of weaponry out of the insurgents’ hands.”