Official: Homemade bombs pose global threat

WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior military official says the use of homemade bombs extends well beyond Afghanistan and Iraq, making the weapons a global problem that requires an international solution.

In congressional testimony to be delivered Thursday, Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz says there have been more than 3,500 incidents involving improvised explosive devices in the past year and the number is growing.

Metz heads the U.S. military organization tasked with countering the bombs. He says violent extremists have easy access to the materials needed to make IEDs and use telecommunications networks to exchange information about how to improve them. Metz said it's unlikely IEDs will ever be defeated, but that new, innovative ways must be found to make them too costly to produce and too risky to use.