Iraq seeing rise in Iran-linked bomb blasts - US

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. military in Iraq is seeing an upswing in the number of roadside bomb attacks using deadly armor-piercing munitions linked to Iran, top defense officials said on Friday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the number of attacks involving explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, in the first two weeks of January was about equal to EFP attacks during all of December.

"The number was fairly low in December but it's about double so far in January," Gates said during a return flight from a visit to a U.S. Navy installation near Charleston, South Carolina.

The U.S. defense chief provided no details about the attacks and initially described the weapons used as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. A senior Army officer later said his reference was specifically to attacks involving EFPs.

An IED is potentially less deadly than an EFP, which has the ability to penetrate heavy U.S. armor.

"During the first half of January, there were about as many (EFPs), I think, as there were in all of December. That's my understanding," Gates said.

Late last year, U.S. military officials in Iraq said the number of EFP attacks had fallen off but noted the improving quality of the munitions discovered with Iranian-trained Shi'ite militants in southern Iraq.

Washington accuses Tehran of arming, training and funding Shi'ite militias in Iraq through Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran denies the charges.