ROADSIDE BOMBS

Scary.

Capt. Cousins says the improvised explosive devices his team finds are usually simple in design, using mortar rounds or rocket-propelled grenades fitted with timers and set to explode at random.

Some are a bit more sophisticated, enabling them to be remotely detonated. Still, the disposal team here says it has so far never encountered a device its members could not safely defuse.

But if the attackers lack high-technology, the U.S. military acknowledges they are extremely clever when it comes to hiding the bombs.

One method the attackers have used is to encase bombs in concrete to resemble ordinary rocks. Another method has been to hide an explosive device underneath a dead animal on the road.