Tactics of the Iraqi insurgency The tactics of the Iraqi insurgency vary widely . Minority Jihadist elements use car bombs , kidnappings , hostage - taking , shootings and other types of attacks to target Iraqi collaborators and U . S . forces with little regard for civilian casualties . US Government data show that , since 2004 , an average of 74 % of all insurgent attacks are directed against occupation forces with only 10 % directed against civilians . For most attacks , the Iraqi guerrillas operate in small teams of five to ten men in order to maintain mobility and escape detection . Larger attacks involving as many as 150 men have appeared on occasion since April 2004 ( although larger units had also appeared in a few instances beforehand , such as a battle near the Syrian border town of Rawa on June 13 , 2003 and a large ambush of a U . S . convoy in the town of Samarra on November 30 , 2003 ) . All of the following methods of attack are designed to allow insurgent teams to strike quickly and escape detection afterwards . Improvised explosive devices ( IEDs ) . Many Iraqi insurgent attacks have made use of improvised explosive device s , or IEDs . In the chaos after the war , mass looting of infrastructure , including munitions , occurred . According to the Pentagon , 250 , 000 tons ( of 650 , 000 tons total ) of ordnance were looted , providing an almost endless source of ammunition for the insurgents . Methods of detonation include simple pull - wires and mechanical detonator s , cell - phones , garage - door openers , cable , radio control ( RC ) , and infrared lasers among others . 155 - millimetre artillery shells rigged with blasting cap s and improvised shrapnel material ( concrete , ball bearings , etc . ) have been the most commonly used , but the makeshift devices have also gradually become larger as coalition forces add more armor to their vehicles , with evidence from insurgent propaganda videos of aviation bombs of 500 lb being used as IEDs , as well as the introduction of explosively formed penetrator ( EFP ) warheads . These explosive devices are often concealed or camouflaged hidden behind roadside rails , on telephone poles , buried underground or in piles of garbage , disguised as rocks or bricks , and even placed inside dead animals . The number of these attacks have steadily increased , emerging as the insurgents ' most lethal and favored method to attack coalition forces , with continually improving tactics . Ambushes . Iraqi insurgents have frequently launched ambush es of military convoys and patrols , using AK - 47 assault rifle s and rocket - propelled grenades . Soft - skinned humvee s have been the most commonly targeted . The congested and constricted terrain of the urban areas , and in the rural areas , palm groves and other crops , offer cover and concealment for insurgents launching ambushes . These attacks are usually broken off before support can be called in , in traditional guerrilla fashion . Direct ambushes of U . S . forces have declined , however , to avoid insurgent casualties as U . S . defenses improve ( armored Humvees and tanks are normally unaffected by rifle fire ) . The percentage of multinational forces casualties from mines or improvised explosives has risen to 70 % . Ambushes against the poorly protected Iraqi police and security forces , however , have proven very lethal . There have been isolated cases of larger ambushes , such as an attack on a coalition convoy in Samarra on November 30 , 2003 that involved 100 fighters and a massive ambush of a coalition convoy in Sadr City on April 4 , 2004 by Mahdi Army militiamen numbering over 1000 men . Sniper tactics . The Iraqi insurgents have also used snipers , including vehicle - borne units , to isolate enemy combatants from larger forces and strike at their leader — a demonstration of their technological capabilities and tactical patience . Major Greg Rowlands of the Royal Australian Infantry , a tactics instructor to US company commanders , wrote in 2008 that Mortar and rocket strikes . Another common form of attack involves hit - and - run mortar or rocket strikes on coalition base s or locations associated with the Iraqi government or a foreign presence . Insurgents fire a few mortar rounds or rockets and quickly escape before their position can be identified and effective counter - fire directed . Insurgents use urban areas heavily populated by civilians as firing positions to discourage counter - fire , and in the countryside , palm groves and orchards are used for concealment . Insurgents commonly mount mortar tubes in the rear cargo area of civilian trucks allowing them to drive away from the launch position before counter - fire or coalition troops can reach them . This method is very inaccurate and rarely hits the intended target , since the guerrillas do not have time to aim properly , but casualties are still periodically inflicted by incoming mortar rounds and rocket s . Improvised multiple - rocket launchers have also been used to target specific buildings in urban areas . Mortars were used in an attack during October 2006 on Camp Falcon , a forward base which included an ammunition dump . The depot was destroyed by the insurgents . Attacks on aircraft . Since the beginning of November 2003 military helicopter s have also been increasingly targeted . The insurgents , often concealed in palm groves , lie in wait for the helicopters and then attack the helicopter , usually from the rear . The weapons used include rocket - propelled grenades and heat - seeking shoulder fired missiles such as the SA - 7 , SA - 14 , and in one case the SA - 16 . Countermeasures taken by helicopter pilots , such as flying very low at a high speed , have considerably reduced the number of helicopters shot down , by reducing the time of target acquisition . Recently , the tactic of flying low has increased the vulnerability of these vehicles to . 50 caliber machine gun fire . Helicopters , including Apache gunships , have been severely damaged or destroyed when multiple machine gunners have engaged helicopters at close ranges of 50 – 400 meters . At this range , the kinetic energy of these bullets is sufficient to penetrate the helicopter ' s armor . Another new tactic used by the insurgents to bring down helicopters is the so - called " aerial IED " . Basically an explosive charge designed in a way to force the blast straight up into a flight path , this new type of IED may have been responsible for the downing of several helicopters . Such tactics resemble the Vietcong tactic of placing claymore mine s , remote - detonated shaped charge explosives , in jungle canopy to fire upwards as helicopters passed overhead . Suicide bombers . Since August 2003 , as the U . S - led coalition forces gradually strengthened their defenses , suicide car bombs have been increasingly used as weapons by guerrilla forces . The car bomb s , known in the military as " vehicle - borne improvised explosive devices " ( VBIEDs , pronounced " vee - beds " ) , have emerged as one of their most effective weapons , along with the roadside improvised explosive devices . They are often driven by suicide bombers and directed against targets such as Iraqi police stations , recruiting centers for the security services , and U . S . convoys . They have a number of benefits for the insurgency : they deliver a large amount of firepower and inflict large amounts of casualties at little cost to the attackers . However , large numbers of Iraqi civilians are usually killed in such attacks ( see below ) . Non - military and civilian targets . There have also been many attacks on non - military and civilian targets , beginning in earnest in August 2003 and steadily increasing since then . These include the assassination of Iraqis cooperating with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Governing Council , considered collaborators by the guerrillas , and suicide bombings targeting the United Nations headquarters , the Jordanian Embassy , Shi ' a mosques and civilians , the International Red Cross , Kurdish political parties , the president of the Iraqi Governing Council , hotels , Christian churches , diplomats and restaurants . Armed and unarmed Iraqi police and security forces are also targeted , because they are also considered collaborators . Sometimes they are killed in ambushes and sometimes in execution - style killings . Militants have targeted private contractors working for the coalition as well as other non - coalition support personnel . The origin of the large - scale bombings is considered by many observers to most likely be foreign fighters , former Iraqi secret service operatives , or a combination of the two . It is believed that most of the actual suicide attackers are from outside Iraq , although they most likely are facilitated by Iraqis . The network of Abu Musab al - Zarqawi is frequently blamed by the U . S . and the Iraqi government for suicide attacks on non - military targets . Coalition officials and some analysts suspect that the aim of these attacks is to sow chaos and sectarian discord . Coalition officials point to an intercepted letter suspected to be from Abu Musab al - Zarqawi , in which he makes the case for attacking Shi ' a in order to provoke an anti - Sunni backlash and thereby galvanize the Sunni population in support of the insurgents , as evidence . While hardcore Wahhabi " mujahideen " among the insurgency may indeed desire a sectarian civil war , other insurgents ( both Sunni and Shia ) charge that the coalition is attempting to instill a fear of civil war as part of a divide and conquer strategy . Though attacks on civilians tend to kill much larger numbers of people in comparison to attacks on coalition forces , US Department of Defense data show that the Iraqi insurgency has , since at least April 2004 , overwhelmingly targeted occupation forces and collaborators , rather than civilians . According to a recent open editorial in the " New York Times " , between April 2004 and May 2007 , attacks directed against occupation forces comprised 74 % of all significant insurgent attacks . 16 % were directed against collaborationist elements and only 10 % were directed at civilians . This US data , although significant , have not been widely reported in the mainstream . There have been exceptions , however . For instance , in February 2006 , Fred Kaplan , writing for Slate , noted that Kaplan also noted the disparity between the ‘ facts on the ground ’ and mainstream media reporting , observing that it was a ‘ surprising finding because so many news stories from Iraq have been reporting a rise in attacks on Iraqi security forces and in clashes between Sunni and Shiite factions . ’ In February 2007 , the Pentagon ’ s quarterly report , Stability and Security in Iraq , found that " Although most attacks continue to be directed against coalition forces , Iraqi civilians suffer the vast majority of the casualties " . In late 2006 , the BBC News website covered the issue , noting that although " about 80 % of insurgent attacks are targeted against coalition forces , the Iraqi population suffers about 80 % of all casualties , according to US officials in late 2005 . " This page , which includes an illustrative bar graph , was last updated November 2006 . This overall pattern has changed following the surge a reduction in troop deaths has followed for the past several months , according to a report by the US General Accounting Office . A 2005 Human Rights Watch report analyzes the insurgency in Iraq and highlights " the groups that are most responsible for the abuse , namely al - Qaeda in Iraq , Ansar al - Sunna and the Islamic Army in Iraq , which have all targeted civilians for abductions and executions . The first two groups have repeatedly boasted about massive car bombs and suicide bombs in mosques , markets , bus stations and other civilian areas . Such acts are war crimes and in some cases may constitute crimes against humanity , which are defined as serious crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population . " Assassinations , kidnappings and beheadings . Assassination of local and government officials , translators for coalition forces , employees at coalition bases , informants , and other ( so - called ) collaborators has been a regular occurrence . Assassinations have taken place in a variety of ways , from close - range small arm s fire and drive - by shooting s to suicide car - bomber s ramming convoys . Kidnap ping , and in some cases beheadings , have emerged as another insurgent tactic since April 2004 . Foreign civilians have borne the brunt of the kidnappings , although U . S . military personnel have also been targeted . After kidnapping the victim , the insurgents typically make some sort of demand of the government of the hostage ' s nation and give a time limit for the demand to be carried out , often 72 hours . Beheading is often threatened if the government fails to heed the wishes of the hostage takers . Several individuals , including an American civilian ( Nicholas Berg ) and a South Korean ( Kim Sun - il ) , among others , have been beheaded . In many cases , tapes of the beheadings are distributed for propaganda purposes . However , 80 % of hostages taken by insurgents have been peacefully released . Jill Carroll , a journalist for the Christian Science Monitor , was kidnapped in early 2006 , and although later let go , her Iraqi interpreter was killed . The goal of the kidnappings appears mainly to be to terrify foreign civilians into immobilization and to attract media attention and possibly inspire recruits . Almost all of the kidnappings have been conducted by radical Sunni groups on the fringe of the insurgency . The Mahdi Army , as well as the nationalist and more moderate religious elements of the Sunni insurgency , have rejected kidnapping as a legitimate tactic . Attacks on security forces . Another insurgent tactic that has been increasingly used since April 2004 includes large - scale assaults and raid s on the Iraqi police , their police station s and compounds of Iraqi security forces , whom insurgents view as collaborators , involving platoon - sized elements or larger , often up to 150 men . Large - scale attacks have also been occasionally advanced against U . S . forces . They have been launched both by Sunni insurgents in cities such as Ramadi , Fallujah , and al - Qaim , and by Shia militiamen in cities such as Baghdad , Najaf , and Kufa during the twin uprisings of 2004 . Some attacks may combine multiple weapons and tactics at once , such as rocket - propelled grenades , mortars , and car bombs . Although these attacks usually fail militarily , they are designed to convey an impression of strength on the part of the guerrillas ( part of the psychological warfare campaign ) and to sow general chaos . Propaganda . Iraqi insurgents have released propaganda videos . These videos seem to mostly consist of footage of combat , training , executions or suicide attacks . These videos are posted online as recruiting tools , as last testaments of suicide bombers , to demonstrate attacks and to influence public opinion .