Animprovised explosive device (IED) is abomb constructed and deployed in ways other than inconventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as anartillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used asroadside bombs, orhomemade bombs.
The term "IED" was coined by theBritish Army during theNorthern Ireland conflict to refer tobooby traps made by theIRA, and entered common use in the U.S. during theIraq War.[1][2]
IEDs are predominantly utilized byviolent non-state actors, such as guerrilla or terrorist organizations, who use them in the context of strategies and tactics ofinsurrection,guerrilla warfare,asymmetric warfare,urban warfare or interrorist operations.[3][4][5] IEDs can also be utilized by statespecial forces orcommando forces, to conductunconventional warfare in atheatre of operations, such as in the case, for example, of theUnited States Army Special Forces.[6][7]
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An IED can be defined as a device placed or fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious,pyrotechnic orincendiary chemicals and designed to destroy, incapacitate, harass or distract; it may incorporate military stores, but is normally devised from non-military components.[8] IEDs may incorporate military or commercially sourced explosives, and often combine both types, or they may otherwise be made with homemade explosives (HME).[9]
An IED has generally five components: a switch (activator), an initiator (fuse), container (body), charge (explosive), and a power source (battery); an IED designed for use against armoured targets such as personnel carriers or tanks will be designed for armour penetration, by using, for example, ashaped charge that creates anexplosively formed penetrator; IEDs are extremely diverse in design and may contain many types of initiators, detonators, penetrators, and explosive loads.[9] Some particularly sophisticated IEDs can also incorporateanti-handling or anti-defusing systems: this was the case, for example, of the IED prepared by John Birges in 1980, used in an extortion attempt against theHarvey's Resort Hotel.[10]
Antipersonnel IEDs typically also contain fragmentation-generating objects such as nails, ball bearings or even small rocks to cause wounds at greater distances than blast pressure alone could.[9] Injuries caused by antipersonnel improvised explosive devices (AP-IED) to dismounted (pedestrian) soldiers and civilians were reported inBMJ Open to be far worse than those caused by conventionalantipersonnel mines (APM), resulting in multiple limbamputations and lower body mutilation.[11] This combination of injuries has been given the name "Dismounted Complex Blast Injury" and is thought to be the worst survivable injury ever seen in war.[12]
IEDs are triggered by various methods, including remote control, infrared or magnetic triggers, pressure-sensitive bars or trip wires (victim-operated). In some cases, multiple IEDs are wired together in adaisy chain to attack a convoy of vehicles[13] spread out along a roadway.
IEDs made by inexperienced designers or with substandard materials may fail todetonate, and in some cases, they detonate on either the maker or the placer of the device. Some groups, however, have been known to produce sophisticated devices constructed with components scavenged from conventionalmunitions and standard consumerelectronics components, such as mobile phones, washing machine timers, pagers, or garage door openers.[9] The sophistication of an IED depends on the training of the designer and the tools and materials available.[9]
IEDs may use artillery shells or conventionalhigh-explosive charges as their explosive load as well as homemade explosives. However, the threat exists thattoxicchemical,biological, or radioactive (dirty bomb) material may be added to a device, thereby creating other life-threatening effects beyond the shrapnel, concussive blasts and fire normally associated with bombs.[9]
It is possible to categorize IEDs bywarhead, by delivery mechanism, by trigger mechanism:
TheDictionary of Military and Associated Terms (JCS Pub 1-02) includes two definitions for improvised devices: improvised explosive devices (IED) andimprovised nuclear device (IND).[14] These definitions address theNuclear andExplosive inCBRNe. That leaves chemical, biological and radiological undefined. Four definitions have been created to build on the structure of the JCS definition. Terms have been created to standardize the language of first responders and members of the military and to correlate the operational picture.[15]
An IED may be equipped with a general-purpose explosive charge, designed to project a blast wave, with or without additional shrapnel materials, all around itself, for the purpose of inflicting damage to peoples and unarmored targets. Examples of such charges are those contained in IEDs such aspipe bombs,nail bombs,tin can grenades,pressure cooker bombs,car bombs, and so on.
In general, the nature and potential of the explosive substances contained in an IED – both in terms of the main explosive charge and thedetonator – is extremely variable: military explosives obtained from modern conventional munitions, such astrinitrotoluene (TNT),[16]Composition B,[16]RDX,[16]pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN);[16] commercial or improvised explosives, such asdynamite,[16]ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO),[17]urea nitrate,[17]chlorate/perchlorate mixtures,[16]nitrate- andperoxide-based mixtures and compounds,[16]triacetone triperoxide (TATP),[17]hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD).[16]
An IED may be equipped with a directionally focused explosive charge, designed to channel most of the force of the explosion in a single direction. Such IEDs are specifically built to be employed in ananti-personnel oranti-tank/anti-material role.
Examples of anti-personnel IEDs of this category are thefougasse and thegrapeshot charge.
A fougasse is an improvisedmortar capable of a single discharge, constructed by making a hollow in the ground or rock, placing an explosive charge (originallyblack powder) at the bottom of it, then covered with various types of projectiles (originally stones); the hollow is camouflaged in the surrounding environment; the fougasse is then fired by means of afuse or electrically, resulting in the projectiles to be scattered in front of it, along the axis of the excavation of the hollow.[18] An IED with ancient origins, the fougasse was used in warfare – even in a configuration capable of launching incendiary liquids – at least until theSecond World War[19] and theKorean War.[20]
A grapeshot charge employ the same general operating principle of the fougasse, but more closely resembling an improvisedClaymore mine, also made for directional fragmentation. It is constructed by inserting its major components – projectiles,buffer material, explosive charge andblasting cap – in a portable container, such as a metal tube, anammo can or a No. 10can. The trajectory of the multiple projectiles – usually nails, bolts, nuts, ball bearings, glass, small pieces of scrap metal, rocks and other similar shrapnel materials – is flat, as if they were fired from ashotgun.[21][22][23]
Examples of anti-tank/anti-material IEDs of this category are theshaped charge, theexplosively formed penetrator/projectile (EFP) and the platter charge.
A shaped charge concentrate the energy released by the explosion on a small area, making a tubular or linear fracture in the target; to do so, it present a cavity, usually cone-shaped and lined. The cavity liner can be made fromcopper,tin,zinc, orglass (funnels or bottles with a cone in the bottom, like champagne or cognac bottles). The high-explosive charge is placed at a very short distance from the target – but still kept at an adequate standoff distance – with the cavity facing the target. When the charge is detonated, the shock wave propagates from thedetonator towards the cone-shaped cavity, thus producing a piercing jet of particles at high speed, temperature and pressure, capable of perforating concrete and armor, but which loses effectiveness after a short distance.[21][22][24] Historical examples of improvised shaped charges are those devised by theViet Cong during theVietnam War, which were incorporated into various types of improvised weapons, such as bounding anti-tank/anti-vehicularmines, demolition charges andanti-tank hand grenades.[25][26]
An explosively formed penetrator/projectile (EFP) is a special type of shaped charge; also cylindrical, it incorporate a thicker and heavier metal liner, usually a plate made of stamped or machinedcopper, with a concave lens or dish shape, pointed inward. The plate is aimed at the target. When the high-explosive charge, uniformly packed behind the liner/plate, is detonated, the liner/plate is formed into a projectile called “slug” or “penetrator”, which is propelled toward the target at an extremely high velocity. The difference in the shape and weight of the liner allows an EFP to beeffective at long standoffs from the target (100 meters or more),[27] thus making it deployable from a greater distance than a traditional shaped charge. The “slug” produced by an EFP is capable of penetrating, from a distance, armoured targets like tanks,[28] however, theaccuracy of such devices is limited (approximately 50 meters),[9] due to the way in which EFPs are produced: the “slug” projected from the explosion has no stabilization because it has no tail fins and it does not spin like a bullet from a rifle.[29][30][9] This type of IED was used by insurgent forces in recent conflicts, such as theIraq War (2003–2011), with lethal effects.[31]
A platter charge, also made for target penetration, is similar to EFPs, serving a similar role as an EFP but with reduced effect and easier construction: the main differences being that the explosive charge do not have a cavity, and that the plate is flat and not concave, not made with machined copper but with cheaper cast or cutsteel; in this case too the plate is launched by the force of the explosion – as a single projectile or "slug" – in a single direction.[21][22][30]
An IED may incorporate toxic attributes of chemical materials designed to result in the dispersal of toxic chemical materials for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear andbehavior modification) on a larger population; such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing weapon.[9][32] Substances that could potentially be used as improvised chemical charges includecarbamates (Aldicarb),diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) andorganophosphates (parathion, methyl and ethyl).[33]
An IED may incorporate biological materials designed to result in the dispersal of vector-borne biological material for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on a larger population; such devices are fabricated in a completely improvised manner.[9][32]Burkholderia mallei is thebacterium that causes the diseaseglanders, which could potentially be used as an improvised biological charge.[34]
An IED may incorporate incendiary charges, for the purpose of causing and spreading a fire. Examples of such incendiary charges are those constituted by materials and mixtures such as, for example,napalm,thermite,magnesium powder,chlorine trifluoride,white phosphorus,chlorate andsugar, powderedaluminum andsulfur, and so on. Although purely incendiary improvised devices usually do not explode, they are still colloquially referred to as incendiary bombs.[35][36][37]
A speculative IED may incorporate radioactive materials, and being designed to disperse such materials for the purpose ofarea denial and economic damage, and/or for the purpose of creating a primary patho-physiological toxic effect (morbidity and mortality), or secondary psychological effect (causing fear and behavior modification) on a larger population. Such devices may be fabricated in a completely improvised manner or may be an improvised modification to an existing nuclear weapon. Also called a Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD) or "dirty bomb".[9][32]
A speculative IED, defined as animprovised nuclear device, may incorporate a nuclear charge, most likely a crude atomic bomb of thegun-type.[38]
A vehicle-borne IED (VBIED) is a military term for acar bomb or truck bomb, which can carry a relatively large payload, but can also be any type of transportation, such as a bicycle or a motorcycle.[39] They are typically employed byinsurgents, for example byISIS, which has used truck bombs with devastating effects.[40][41][42] They can be detonated by remote control or by a passenger/driver. The act of a person's being in this vehicle and detonating it is known as an SVBIEDsuicide.[39] On occasion the driver of the car bomb may have been coerced into delivery of the vehicle under duress, a situation known as aproxy bomb. Distinguishing features are low-riding vehicles with excessive weight, vehicles with only one passenger, and ones where the interior of the vehicles look as if they have been stripped down and built back up.[43] Car bombs can carry thousands of pounds of explosives[44] and may create additional shrapnel damage through the destruction of the vehicle itself and by the use of the vehicle fuel as an incendiary weapon.[39]
A water-borne improvised explosive device (WBIED) is a surface or subsurface improvised explosive device that is anchored, floating, or propelled – for example, a small boat.[45] An early example of this type was the JapaneseShinyo suicide boats duringWorld War II.[46] The boats were filled with explosives and attempted to ram Allied ships, sometimes successfully, having sunk or severely damaged several American ships by war's end. Suicide bombers used a boat-borne IED to attack theUSS Cole; US and UK troops have also been killed by boat-borne IEDs in Iraq.[47][48] TheLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been known to use WBIEDs during theSri Lankan Civil War.[49] WBIEDs have also been used in the Red Sea.[49][50]
Monkeys andwar pigs were used as incendiaries around 1000 AD.[51] More famously the "anti-tank dog" and "bat bomb" were developed during World War II. In recent times, a two-year-old child and seven other people were killed by explosives strapped to a horse in the town of Chita inColombia.[52] In Afghanistan, localinsurgents have used animals to transport IEDs.[53] The carcasses of certain animals were also used to conceal explosive devices by theIraqi insurgency.[54]
IEDs strapped to the necks of farmers have been used on at least three occasions by guerrillas in Colombia, as a way of extortion.[55][56] Americanpizza delivery manBrian Douglas Wells was killed in 2003 by an explosive fastened to his neck, purportedly under duress from the maker of the bomb.[57] In 2011 a schoolgirl in Sydney, Australia had asuspected collar bomb attached to her by an attacker in her home. The device was removed by police after a ten-hour operation and proved to be ahoax.[58]
Suicide bombing usually refers to an individual wearing explosives and detonating them to kill others including themselves, the bomber will conceal explosives on and around their person, commonly using avest, and will use a timer or some other trigger to detonate the explosives. The logic behind such attacks is the belief that an IED delivered by a human has a greater chance of achieving success than any other method of attack. In addition, there is the psychological impact of child soldiers prepared to deliberately sacrifice themselves for their cause.[59]
In May 2012 Americancounter-terrorism officials leaked their acquisition of documents describing the preparation and use of surgically implanted improvised explosive devices.[60][61][62] Security officials referred to bombs being surgically implanted into suicide bombers' "love handles".[60] According to theDaily Mirror UK security officials atMI-6 asserted that female bombers could travel undetected carrying the explosive chemicals in otherwise standardbreast implants.[63][64] The bomber would blow up the implanted explosives by injecting a chemical trigger.[62]
Robots could also be used to carry explosives. First such documented case was during the aftermath of2016 shooting of Dallas police officers when abomb disposal robot was used to deliver explosives to killMicah Xavier Johnson, who was hiding in a place inaccessible topolice snipers.[65] As well, drones carrying explosives were used in a suspectedassassination attempt against Venezuelan presidentNicolás Maduro in 2018.[66] Drug cartels in Mexico have shown the ability to producedrone-borne IEDs.[67]
ISIS andAl-Nusra have used bombs detonated intunnels dug under targets.[68][69]
Among insurgent forces in Iraq was popular the house-borne IED, or HBIED, from the common military practice of clearing houses: insurgents used to rig an entire house to detonate and collapse it shortly after an enemy clearing squad had entered it.[39]
In 2008, rocket-propelled IEDs, dubbed "Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions" (IRAMs) by the military, came to be employed in numbers against U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been described aspropane tanks packed with explosives and powered by107 mm rockets.[70] New types of IRAMs, including "Volcano IRAMs"[71] and "Elephant Rockets",[72][73] were used during the Syrian Civil War.[71]
Improvised mortars have been used by many insurgent groups, including during the civil war in Syria and theBoko Haram insurgency.[74] DuringThe Troubles, theIRA used various models of improvised mortars, some of which were nicknamed "barrack busters".[75][76] Improvised artillery pieces nicknamed "hell cannons" were used by rebel forces during the Syrian Civil War.[77]
An IED can be initiated by a length offuse (such as asafety fuse or avisco fuse), which can be attached to a non-electricdetonator.[78][79][80]
Command-wire improvised explosive devices (CWIED) use an electrical firing cable, that affords the user complete control over the device right up until the moment of initiation.[59]
The trigger for aradio-controlled improvised explosive device (RCIED) is controlled by radio link. The device is constructed so that the receiver is connected to an electrical firing circuit and the transmitter operated by the perpetrator at a distance. A signal from the transmitter causes the receiver to trigger a firing pulse that operates the switch. Usually the switch fires an initiator; however, the output may also be used to remotely arm an explosive circuit. Often the transmitter and receiver operate on a matchedcoding system that prevents the RCIED from being initiated by spurious radio frequency signals orjamming.[59] An RCIED can be triggered from any number of different radio-frequency based mechanisms includinghandheld remote control transmitters, car alarms, wireless door bells, cell phones,pagers andportable two-way radios, including those designed for theCB radio service,UHFPMR446,FRS, andGMRS services.[59]
A radio-controlled IED (RCIED) incorporating amobile phone that is modified and connected to an electrical firing circuit. Mobile phones operate in the UHF band in line of sight withbase transceiver station (BTS) antennae sites. In the common scenario, receipt of a paging signal by phone is sufficient to initiate the IED firing circuit.[59]
Victim-operated improvised explosive devices (VOIED), also known asbooby traps, are designed to function upon contact with a victim. VOIED switches are often well hidden from the victim or disguised as innocuous everyday objects. They are operated by means of movement. Switching methods include tripwire, pressure mats, spring-loaded release, push, pull or tilt. Common forms of VOIED include the under-vehicle IED (UVIED), improvisedlandmines, andmail bombs.[59][81][82]
The British accused Iran andHezbollah of teaching Iraqi fighters to useinfrared light beams to trigger IEDs. As the occupation forces became more sophisticated in interrupting radio signals around their convoys, the insurgents adapted their triggering methods.[83] In some cases, when a more advanced method was disrupted, the insurgents regressed to using uninterruptible means, such as hard wires from the IED to detonator; however, this method is much harder to effectively conceal. It later emerged however, that these "advanced" IEDs were actually oldIRA technology. The infrared beam method was perfected by the IRA in the early 1990s after it acquired the technology from a botched undercover British Army operation. Many of the IEDs being used against the invading coalition forces inIraq were originally developed by the British Army who unintentionally passed the information on to the IRA.[84] The IRA taught their techniques to thePalestine Liberation Organization and the knowledge spread to Iraq.[85]
Counter-IED efforts are done primarily by military, law enforcement, diplomatic, financial, and intelligence communities and involve a comprehensive approach to countering the threat networks that employ IEDs, not just efforts to defeat the devices themselves.
Because the components of these devices are being used in a manner not intended by their manufacturer, and because the method of producing the explosion is limited only by the science and imagination of the perpetrator, it is not possible to follow a step-by-step guide to detect and disarm a device that an individual has only recently developed. As such,explosive ordnance disposal (IEDD) operators must be able to fall back on their extensive knowledge of the first principles ofexplosives andammunition, to try and deduce what the perpetrator has done, and only then torender it safe and dispose of or exploit the device.[86]
Beyond this, as the stakes increase and IEDs are emplaced not only to achieve the direct effect, but to deliberately target IEDD operators and cordon personnel, the IEDD operator needs to have a deep understanding of tactics to ensure they are neither setting up any of their team or the cordon troops for an attack, nor walking into one themselves. The presence ofchemical,biological,radiological, ornuclear (CBRN) material in an IED requires additional precautions. As with other missions, the EOD operator provides the area commander with an assessment of the situation and of support needed to complete the mission.[86]
Military and law enforcement personnel from around the world have developed a number ofrender-safe procedures (RSPs) to deal with IEDs. RSPs may be developed as a result of direct experience with devices or by applied research designed to counter the threat. The supposed effectiveness of IED jamming systems, including vehicle- andpersonally-mounted systems, has caused IED technology to essentially regress to command-wire detonation methods.[86] These are physical connections between the detonator and explosive device and cannot be jammed. However, these types of IEDs are more difficult to emplace quickly, and are more readily detected.[86]
Military forces and law enforcement from India, Canada, United Kingdom, Israel, Spain, and the United States are at the forefront of counter-IED efforts, as all have direct experience in dealing with IEDs used against them in conflict or terrorist attacks. From the research and development side, programs such as the new Canadian Unmanned Systems Challenge will bring student groups together to invent an unmanned device to both locate IEDs and pinpoint the insurgents.[87]
Thefougasse was improvised for centuries, eventually inspiring factory-madeland mines.Ernst Jünger mentions in his war memoir the systematic use of IEDs andbooby traps to cover the retreat of German troops at theSomme region duringWorld War I. Another early example of coordinated large-scale use of IEDs was theBelarusian Rail War launched by Belarusian guerrillas against the Germans duringWorld War II.[88][89] Both command-detonated and delayed-fuse IEDs were used to derail thousands of German trains during 1943–1944.[90]
Starting six months before theinvasion of Afghanistan by theUSSR on 27 December 1979, the AfghanMujahideen were supplied by the CIA, among others, with large quantities of military supplies. Among those supplies were many types ofanti-tank mines. The insurgents often removed the explosives from several foreign anti-tank mines, and combined the explosives in tin cooking-oil cans for a more powerful blast. By combining the explosives from several mines and placing them in tin cans, the insurgents made them more powerful, but sometimes also easier to detect by Soviet sappers usingmine detectors. After an IED was detonated, the insurgents often used direct-fire weapons such as machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to continue the attack.[86]
Afghan insurgents operating far from the border with Pakistan did not have a ready supply of foreign anti-tank mines. They preferred to make IEDs from Soviet unexploded ordnance. The devices were rarely triggered by pressure fuzes. They were almost always remotely detonated. During theWar in Afghanistan (2001–2021), theTaliban and its supporters used IEDs againstNATO and Afghan military and civilian vehicles. This was the most common method of attack against NATO forces, with IED attacks that increased consistently year on year.[86]
IEDs used by insurgent groups during the2001–2021 Afghanistan War caused over 66% ofcoalition casualties.[91]
A brigade commander said thatsniffer dogs were the most reliable way of detecting IEDs.[92] However, statistical evidence gathered by the US Army Maneuver Support Center at Fort Leonard Wood, MO showed that the dogs were not the most effective means of detecting IEDs.[93][94][95] The U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division was the first unit to introduce explosive detection dogs in southern Afghanistan[96]. In less than two years the dogs discovered 15 tons of illegal munitions, IEDs, and weapons.[97]
In July 2012 it was reported that "sticky bombs", magnetically adhesive IEDs that were prevalent in theIraq War, showed up in Afghanistan.[98][99] By 2021 there was at least one sticky bomb attack a day in Kabul. They are used in both traditional assassinations and targeted killings and as terror weapons against the population at large.[100]
In November 2013 one of the largest IEDs constructed was intercepted near Gardez City in Eastern Afghanistan. The 61,000 pounds of explosives was hidden under what appeared to be piles of wood. By comparison, the truck bomb that all but razed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 people in 1995 weighed less than 5,000 pounds.[101] AUnited States Army Corps of Engineers officer assigned to the nearby FOB Lightning analyzed the potential blast damage, which resulted in closing FOB Goode due to its proximity to the highway.[102]
ISAF troops stationed in Afghanistan and other IED prone areas of operation used to "BIP" (blow in place) IEDs and other explosives that were considered too dangerous to defuse.[86]
IEDs are being used byAmbazonian separatists in the ongoingAnglophone Crisis.[103]
IEDs are being used by insurgents against government forces during theinsurgency in Egypt (2013–present)[104] and theSinai insurgency.[105]
IEDs are being used byMaoists in India in their ongoinginsurgency.[106][107][108]
On 13 July 2011, three IEDs were used by theInsurgency in Jammu and Kashmir to carry out acoordinated attack on the city of Mumbai, killing 19 people and injuring 130 more.[109][110]
On 21 February 2013, two IEDs were used to carry outbombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad. The bombs exploded in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shopping area of the city, within 150 metres of each other.[111]
On 17 April 2013, two kilos of explosives used in Bangalore bomb blast at Malleshwaram area, leaving 16 injured and no fatalities. Intelligence sources have said the bomb was an Improvised Explosive Device or IED.[112]
On 21 May 2014, Indinthakarai village supporters of theKudankulam Nuclear Power Plant were targeted by opponents using over half a dozen crude "country-made bombs". It was further reported that there had been at least four similar bombings inTamil Nadu during the preceding year.[113]
On 28 December 2014, a minor explosion took place near the Coconut Grove restaurant at Church Street inBangalore on Sunday around 8:30 pm. One woman was killed and another injured in the blast.[114]
During the2016 Pathankot attack, several casualties came from IEDs.[115]
On 14 February 2019 in2019 Pulwama attack, several casualties were reported due to IED blast.[116]
On 29 October 2023, a series of IED explosions were used to kill 2 attendees at aJehovah's Witnesses Convention in Kalamassery, India.[117]
In theIraq War (2003–2011),insurgents used IEDs extensively against U.S.-led forces, and by the end of 2007 they were responsible for approximately 64% ofcoalition deaths in Iraq.[118][119][91]
Since the detonation of the first IED in Iraq in 2003, more than 81,000 IED attacks occurred in the country, killing and wounding 21,200 Americans.[120]
Beginning in July 2003, theIraqi insurgency used IEDs to target invading coalition vehicles. According toThe Washington Post, 64% of U.S. deaths in Iraq occurred due to IEDs.[121] A French study showed that in Iraq, from March 2003 to November 2006, on a global 3,070 deaths in the US-led invading coalition soldiers, 1,257 were caused by IEDs, i.e. 41%: that is to say more than in the "normal fights" (1027 dead, 34%).[47] Insurgents used IEDs to target not only invading coalition vehicles but Iraqi police as well.[122]
Common locations for placing these bombs on the ground included animalcarcasses,soft drink cans, andboxes. Typically, they exploded underneath or to the side of the vehicle to cause the maximum amount of damage. However, asvehicle armour was improved on military vehicles, insurgents began placing IEDs in elevated positions such as onroad signs, utility poles, or trees, to hit less protected areas.[86]
IEDs in Iraq may had been made withartillery ormortarshells or with varying amounts of bulk or homemadeexplosives. Early during the Iraq war, the bulk explosives were often obtained from stored munitions bunkers to include stripping landmines of their explosives.[86]
Despite the increasedarmor, IEDs were killing military personnel and civilians with greater frequency. May 2007 was one of the deadliest month for IED attacks, with a reported 89 of the 129 invading coalition casualties coming from an IED attack.[118] According to the Pentagon, 250,000 tons (out of 650,000 tons total) of Iraqi heavy ordnance were looted, providing a large supply of ammunition for the insurgents.[86]
In October 2005, the UK government charged thatIran was supplying insurgents with the technological know-how to makeshaped charge IEDs.[123] Both Iranian and Iraqi government officials denied the allegations.[124][125]
During theIraqi Civil War (2014–2017),ISIL made extensive use of suicideVBIEDs, often driven by children, elderly and disabled.[126][127][128]
From 1912–1914, theSuffragettes utilised IEDs in theSuffragette bombing and arson campaign.[129]
During theIrish War of Independence (1919–1921) theIrish Republican Army, nowaday referred to as the "old IRA", used improvised explosive devices against the British armed forces.[130]
ThroughoutThe Troubles, theProvisional Irish Republican Army made extensive use of IEDs in their1969–97 campaign, much of which were made in theRepublic of Ireland.[131][132] They used "barrack buster" mortars[75][76] and remote-controlled IEDs. Members of the IRA developed and counter-developed devices and tactics. IRA bombs became highly sophisticated, featuringanti-handling devices such as amercury tilt switch ormicroswitches. These devices woulddetonate the bomb if it was moved in any way. Typically, the safety-arming device used was a clockworkMemopark timer, which armed the bomb up to 60 minutes after it was placed[133] by completing an electrical circuit supplying power to the anti-handling device. Depending on the particular design (e.g.,boobytrappedbriefcase orcar bomb) an independent electrical circuit supplied power to a conventional timer set for the intended time delay, e.g. 40 minutes. However, some electronic delays developed by IRA technicians could be set to accurately detonate a bomb weeks after it was hidden, which is what happened in theBrighton hotel bomb attack of 1984. Initially, bombs were detonated either by timer or by simple command wire. Later, bombs could be detonated by radio control. Initially, simple servos fromradio-controlled aircraft were used to close the electrical circuit and supply power to the detonator. After the British developed jammers, IRA technicians introduced devices that required a sequence ofpulsed radio codes to arm and detonate them. These were harder to jam.[86]
The IRA as well asUlster loyalist paramilitaries have also utilized less sophisticated devices, such as homemade anti-personnel handgrenades thrown at the target: such grenades werepipe bombs[134] andnail bombs;[135] other types were identified as "blast bombs" (offensive grenades with a limited danger-zone).[136][137] IRA technicians also developed a homemadeanti-tank hand grenade, equipped with ashaped charge warhead, called "Improvised Anti-Armour Grenade" (IAAG).[138][139]
Roadside bombs were extensively used by the IRA. Typically, a roadside bomb was placed in a drain orculvert along a rural road and detonated by remote control when British security forces vehicles were passing, as with the case of the 1979Warrenpoint ambush; as a result of the use of these bombs, the British military stopped transport by road in areas such as South Armagh, and usedhelicopter transport instead to avoid the danger.[86][140]
Most IEDs used commercial or homemade explosives made in the Republic of Ireland, with ingredients such asgelignite andANFO either stolen in construction sites or provided for by supporters in the South,[141][131][132] although the use ofSemtex-H smuggled in fromLibya in the 1980s was also common from the mid-1980s onward.Bomb Disposal teams from321 EOD manned byAmmunition Technicians were deployed in those areas to deal with the IED threat. The IRA also used secondary devices to catch British reinforcements sent in after an initial blast as occurred in theWarrenpoint Ambush. Between 1970 and 2005, the IRA detonated 19,000 IEDs in the Northern Ireland and Britain, an average of one every 17 hours for three and a half decades, arguably making it «the biggest terrorist bombing campaign in history».[86][142]
In the early 1970s, at the height of the IRA campaign, theBritish Army unit tasked with rendering safe IEDs, 321 EOD, sustained significant casualties while engaged in bomb disposal operations; this mortality rate was far higher than other high risk occupations such as deep sea diving, and a careful review was made of how men were selected forEOD operations; the review recommended bringing inpsychometric testing of soldiers to ensure those chosen had the correct mental preparation for high risk bomb disposal duties.[86][143]
The IRA came up with ever more sophisticated designs and deployments of IEDs.Booby Trap or Victim Operated IEDs (VOIEDs), became commonplace. The IRA engaged in an ongoing battle to gain the upper hand in electronic warfare with remote controlled devices. The rapid changes in development led 321 EOD to employ specialists fromDERA (nowDstl, an agency of the MOD), theRoyal Signals, andMilitary Intelligence. This approach by the British army to fighting the IRA in Northern Ireland led to the development and use of most of the modern weapons, equipment and techniques now used by EOD Operators throughout the rest of the world today.[86]
Thebomb disposal operations were led byAmmunition Technicians andAmmunition Technical Officers from 321 EOD, and were trained at theFelix Centre at theArmy School of Ammunition.[86][143]
On August 27, 2023, Israeli security forces successfully foiled an attempt to smuggle Iranian-made explosives into Israel from Jordan. The thwarted smuggling operation in the Jordan Valley aimed to supply clandestine groups in the West Bank with explosives. Counter-smuggling efforts along the border led to increased seizures of weapons and explosive devices.[144]
IEDs are being used byHamas (Al-Qassam Brigades) and other Palestinian militant groups during theGaza–Israel conflict, and more in general during theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict;[145][146] such devices also includeshaped charges directly applied to the targets, andexplosively formed penetrators/projectiles (EFPs).[147][148][149]
TheLebanese National Resistance Front, thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, other resistance groups in Lebanon, and laterHezbollah, made extensive use of IEDs to resist Israeli forces after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel withdrew from Beirut, Northern Lebanon, and Mount Lebanon in 1985, whilst maintaining its occupation of Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah frequently used IEDs to attack Israeli military forces in this area up until the Israeli withdrawal, and the end of the invasion of Lebanon in May 2000.
One such bomb killed IsraeliBrigadier General Erez Gerstein[150] on 28 February 1999, the highest-ranking Israeli to die in Lebanon sinceYekutiel Adam's death in 1982.[86]
Also in the2006 War in Lebanon, aMerkava Mark IItank was hit by a pre-positionedHezbollah IED, killing all 4IDF servicemen on board,[151] the first of two IEDs to damage a Merkava tank.[86]
Homemade IEDs are used extensively during thepost-civil war violence in Libya, mostly in the city of Benghazi against police stations, cars or foreign embassies.[152][153][154]
IEDs were widely used in the 10-years longNepalese Civil War by the NepalesePeople's Liberation Army (PLA), the armed wing of theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist). PLA fighters used rifles captured from the police and a variety of IEDs. The PLA lackedmortars and crew-served weapons, and thus employed human-waves attacks of "martyrs" to break enemy defenses, resulting in heavy casualties. PLA regulars had excellent infantry skills, possibly indicating foreign training. IEDs were the main weapon the insurgents used against government forces, typically causing 35 percent of the deaths amongRoyal Nepal Army (RNA) troops and 50 percent of injuries. Simple IEDs included hand-thrown "socket bombs"[155][156] made withblack powder and shrapnel, and larger bombs made with steel pipes andpressure cockers detonated by wire or remote control. The effectiveness of the IED campaign also suggested foreign training, probably fromIndian Maoists groups.[157]
Boko Haram are using IEDs during their insurgency.[158][159][160][161]
Taliban and other insurgent groups use IEDs against police, military, security forces, and civilian targets.[162][163][164]
IEDs were used by theChechen insurgency following theSecond Chechen War.[165]
Al Shabaab is using IEDs during theSomali Civil War.[166][167][168][169]
IEDs were used frequently by theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) inSri Lanka during theSri Lankan Civil War.[170][171]
During theSyrian Civil War, militant insurgents were using IEDs to attack buses, cars, trucks, tanks and military convoys.[172][173][174] Additionally, theSyrian Air Force has usedbarrel bombs to attack targets in cities and other areas. Such barrel bombs consist of barrels filled with high explosives, oil, and shrapnel, and are dropped from helicopters.[175][176]
Along with mines and IEDs,ISIL also used VBIEDs in Syria,[177] including during2017 Aleppo suicide car bombing. See also:Improvised artillery in the Syrian civil war.
On 16 November 2021, suicide bombers set off two powerful explosions in the center of Uganda's capital Kampala during rush hour in an attack later claimed by Islamic State. There have been a number of bomb explosions in 2021. In October, a 20-year-old waitress was killed after a device, left in a shopping bag, detonated in a bar in the city. Days later several people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a bus near Kampala.[178]
Numerous IEDs were built and disseminated by the Unabomber – nickname ofTheodore Kaczynski – starting from the late 1970s.[179]
In the 1995Oklahoma City bombing,Timothy McVeigh andTerry Nichols built an IED withammonium nitrate fertilizer,nitromethane, and stolen commercial explosives in a rental truck, withsandbags used to concentrate the explosive force in the desired direction. McVeigh detonated it next to theAlfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, 19 of whom were children.[86]
High school studentsEric Harris and Dylan Klebold prepared multiple IEDs during theColumbine High School massacre on 20 April 1999. In addition to a stockpile of firearms, Harris and Klebold had securedpropane tanks and converted them into bombs, placing them in the school cafeteria. They had also constructed severalcar bombs. In all, Harris and Klebold had prepared 99 explosive devices, part of which was designed to attackfirst responders andnews reporters responding to the initial bombing, as well as survivors. When the IEDs they previously placed failed to detonate, Harris and Klebold began shooting students outside of the high school, moving in to the school and shooting most of their victims in the school’s library. In all, Harris and Klebold killed 12 students and 1 teacher and injured more than 20. The pair committed suicide before police were able to engage or apprehend them. If all bombs had been detonated, there could have been hundreds killed in the massacre. The pair had planned to exceed the death count during the Oklahoma City bombing four years earlier.[180]
In January 2011, ashaped pipe bomb was discovered and defused at aMartin Luther King Jr. memorial march inSpokane, Washington; no one was injured during the event. According to the FBI and the DHS, it was a directional anti-personnel IED, radio-controlled and designed to fire fragments – fishing weights coated in rat poison – similarly to a single shot shotgun with buckshot, or a cannon with a grapeshot round.[181]
On 15 April 2013, as the annualBoston Marathon race was concluding, two bombs weredetonated seconds apart close to the finish line. Initial FBI response indicated suspicion of IEDpressure cooker bombs.[86]
On 17–19 September 2016,several explosions occurred inManhattan andNew Jersey. The sources of the explosions were all found to be IEDs of various types, such as pressure cooker bombs andpipe bombs.[86]
Many IED-related arrests are made each year in circumstances where the plot was foiled before the device was deployed, or the device exploded but no one was injured.[182]
A number of deaths and property damage occurring duringgender reveal parties have been caused by the detonation of improvised explosive devices. These include the 2017Sawmill Fire, which was started by the detonation of a mass oftannerite intended to disperse coloured powder,[183] and an incident in 2019 where an IED similarly designed to release powder exploded in a manner similar to a pipe bomb, killing a 56-year-old woman after shrapnel struck her in the head.[184]
IEDs are in use in the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine[185][186] and have also been used there for assassinations.[187]
IEDs were used during theVietnam War by theViet Cong against land- and river-borne vehicles as well as personnel.[188] They were commonly constructed using materials from unexploded Americanordnance.[189] Among the various types of IEDs prepared by the Viet Cong there were also anti-aircraft ones, capable of damaging or destroyinghelicopters during landing[190] or when flying at low altitude.[191][192]
Thirty-three percent of U.S. casualties in Vietnam and twenty-eight percent of deaths were officially attributed to mines; these figures include losses caused by both IEDs and commercially manufactured mines.[193]
Houthis are using IEDs[194] against Saudi-led coalition and Hadi's forces duringYemeni Civil War (2015–present),[195][better source needed]Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen andSaudi–Yemeni border conflict.[196][197][198][199]
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula andISIL in Yemen are also known to use IEDs.[200]
In Unconventional Warfare operations it may be impossible or unwise to use conventional military munitions as tools in the conduct of certain missions. It may be necessary instead to fabricate the required munitions from locally available or unassuming materials.
Some sophisticated EFPs have been shown to be effective at ranges exceeding 100 meters.
In Iraq some Shīʿite militia groups used explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) [...] to destroy even the most heavily armoured vehicles, such as M1 Abrams tanks.
The EFP is one of the most lethal IEDs encountered in Iraq.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)IEDs can also contain radiological, chemical, or biological components to increase their lethal and psychological effects.
Another carbamate, Aldicarb, is a commonly used insecticide, but it has relatively high mammalian toxicity for both oral and dermal routes. For experimental animals (e.g., rodents), the average lethal dose of Aldicarb is hundreds of times lower (meaning that Aldicarb is hundreds of times more toxic in mammals) than Sevin. In the potential application as a weapon of mass destruction, it is possible that terrorists could divert Aldicarb or other toxic compounds like it into some sort of improvised chemical weapon. [...] It is not known if modern militaries have continued the production or deployment of chemical weapons using DFP. Its relatively low toxicity probably means that it is not favored by state programs. Terrorists, however, may consider the use of DFP in an improvised chemical weapon. [...] The use of methyl parathion in the United States is, as of this writing in 2003, restricted to only selected applications for outdoor crop protection. Parathion has also been restricted or outlawed in several countries that once manufactured it in large quantities, including Russia, China, and India. Still, there is a risk that remaining and obsolete stocks of parathion might be used by terrorists or criminals in some sort of improvised weapon. During the apartheid era in South Africa, parathion may have been utilized as an assassination weapon against political targets. In 2003, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) mentioned parathion among other possible toxic chemicals that could be utilized by terrorists, including al-Qaeda. A CIA pamphlet notes: "Organophosphate pesticides such as parathion are in the same chemical class as nerve agents.Although these pesticides are much less toxic, their effects and medical treatments are the same as for military-grade nerve agents" (CIA, p. 4).
The fact that glanders is highly dangerous to handle, even in facilities as sophisticated as USAMRIID, means that accidental infections are likely to occur if it is handled in improvised or amateur biological weapons facilities. Even a single case of human glanders should act as a very important "sentinel event" for identifying clandestine bioweapons activities or an intentional BW release. If the low-virulence strains now circulating are modified to develop increased virulence, glanders could become the basis of a biological weapon.
IEDs might also contain incendiary materials to produce chemical reactions that spread fire rapidly.
The incendiary device was probably most effective when used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) during the period 1970 to 1990, in what was referred to as 'the troubles'. Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), which use materials such as napalm, thermite, magnesium powder, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. Though colloquially often known as bombs, they are not explosives but in fact are designed to slow the process of chemical reactions and use ignition rather than detonation to start and or maintain the reaction.
Improvised nuclear devices—sometimes referred to as "crude nuclear weapons"—are simple, unsophisticated atomic bombs. They would probably utilize a gun-type device to create a critical mass and explosive yield. Although these weapons will probably not be based on complicated designs that use a combination of nuclear fission and fusion to boost the nuclear explosive yield of a weapon to extremely high levels, they could have an explosive yield of up to a few tens of kilotons. [...] If terrorists were to construct their own nuclear weapons, they would probably select a gun-type device. This type of weapon is easy to construct, and terrorists would probably not be attracted to more efficient ways of creating a critical mass to generate high yields.
DBIED — Donkey Borne IED
Insurgents used animal carcasses to hide IEDs
Newsweek has learned that U.S. intelligence officials circulated a secret report that laid out in vivid detail how doctors working for al-Asiri had developed the surgical technique. An American government source familiar with the report described it as 15 to 20 pages, single spaced, and replete with schematics and pictures. "It was almost like something you'd see in Scientific American," the source said.
According to Newsweek, US intelligence officials report that al Qaeda's explosives expert Ibrahim al-Asiri and medical doctors have been designing bombs to be surgically implanted into the bodies of suicide bombers. The idea is that the technique would somehow foil airport scanners. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You da bomb!"
Experts and intelligence sources say the terrorists could use the powerful explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, known as PETN and insert it in the bodies of would-be suicide bombers. According to reports they would then be able to detonate the implanted explosives via injections. The bombs would not be detectable to airport body scanner, increasing risks of attacks similar to the 2011 September attack on the Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon.
MI6 chiefs believe doctors have been trained to plant explosives inside the breasts of female suicide bombers.
Security has been beefed up after intelligence al-Qaeda is plotting attacks on airlines flying out of London.
Explosives accounted for over two thirds of the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, mostly caused by IEDs.
More than two-thirds of the combat deaths in Iraq by 2007 were caused by IEDs.
"Nail bomb" as used by rioters in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s.
Blast or "offensive" grenades (A) have a limited danger-zone, and can thus be used safely by troops attacking in the open.
The relative ineffective power of HME was countered by packing several hundred pounds into a gas cylinder in a car or a series of milk churns placed in a culvert under a road and detonated from firing points across the border. [...] After the Warrenpoint ambush in 1979, restrictions on military vehicle movement meant that the bases were reliant on helicopter support
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