American and Iraqi soldiers in Mosul have discovered a facility used to make roadside bombs shaped like street curbs.

The discovery gives some more insight into how far insurgents have gone to hide the explosives, which have been the leading cause of death and injuries for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Earlier this week, soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division and other units found the bomb-making facility in the al Sina’a neighborhood of Mosul.

Included in the find were 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate, fragmentation material, cement and molds for shaping, and several batteries and other bomb-making components. At least one completed curb-shaped bomb also was found.

All of the material was destroyed where it was found, officials said. No Iraqi soldiers or American troops were injured, officials said.

Roadside bombs have been both buried under roadways and disguised to look like other common objects. Officials said the “curb bombs” were most likely to be command-detonated — that is, detonated by an observer, not by a pressure plate or triggering device that reacts to contact.

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