C I V I L - M I L I T A R Y F U S I O N C E N T R E

March 2012 Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises

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COUNTER-IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES

Improvised Explosive Devices: A Global Review

January & February 2012

Mark Checchia Security and C-IED Desk Officer

mark.checchia@cimicweb.org

This document provides a summary of incidents and trends involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as reported in various unclassified publications during January and February 2012. As this report seeks to share information of explosive events with the broader civil-military community, the use of the term IED has been expanded to include explosive incidents in general and is not restricted solely to devices that have been improvised. Related information is available at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.

ATO’s Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) reported 728 people were killed

and 1,434 others injured from 344 reported global IED, vehicle-borne IED (VBIED) or suicide attacks

during January 2012. A further 389 people were killed and 1,246 were injured in 288 attacks in

February 2012. Combined, there were 632 IED incidents in the first two months of the year which killed 1,117

people and injured another 2,680. In comparison, there were 850 non-IED related terrorism incidents globally in

January and February 2012 that resulted in 1,201 killed and 929 wounded, according to COE-DAT. (For a brief

discussion of data sources, see Box 1, next page.)

Figures 1 & 2. IEDs by Type and by Casualty Type, February 2011 – February 2012

0

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IED VBIED Suicide Attacks

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Killed Wounded

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March 2012 Page 2

Source: Compiled from data extracted from COE-DAT Monthly Reports, February 2011-February 2012

Afghanistan

While this section focuses upon IED and C-IED issues in Afghanistan, the security situation and IED incidents in

that country may be viewed with an understanding of the on-going phased transition of security responsibility to

the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). In that context, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

said on 26 January that the International Security Assistance Force will “[S]tick to the roadmap that was outlined

at the NATO summit in Lisbon in November 2010. According to which, we will gradually handover lead

responsibility to the Afghans. A process that has been started and hopefully will be completed by the end of

2014.”

According to ISAF, the overall number of executed IED attacks in January and February 2012 (see Figure 3)

was measurably lower than during the same months in 2011. In addition, a review of ISAF fatalities show that

nine of the 22 military members who died as a result of hostile action in Afghanistan during January 2012 were

killed by IEDs in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in the south of the country. By comparison, in December

2011, 16 of 23 NATO casualties were due to IEDs.

Figure 3. Executed IED Attacks in Afghanistan, January 2008 – February 2012

Box 1. Note on IED Information Sources

Various government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international organisations maintain databases

that track global terrorism and IED events. These databases differ in terms of their security classification and, hence,

their accessibility to individuals who require or would benefit from related information. Databases also differ in their

definition, criteria and classification of explosive events and in the timeliness of their reporting. For instance,

classified military databases in Iraq and Afghanistan include IED explosions, IED finds/clears, turn-ins and hoaxes;

as a result they consistently report higher numbers of IED incidents than other databases. For consistency and

availability, the CFC’s Security & C-IED Desk Officer uses unclassified IED data from NATO’s Defence against

Terrorism Centre of Excellence’s (COE-DAT) monthly reports. Detailed trends data and incident information

through December 2010 are primarily derived from the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study

of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), which allows analysts to download information from their

online global terrorism database. IED events occurring in 2011and 2012 are compiled from various unclassified

news reports. Some information is provided by the Realtime Analysis and Publishing of IED Data (RAPID), a US

Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) contracted weekly publication.

Source: ISAF Monthly

Data: Trends Through

February 2012; IED data

in this publicly available

ISAF document comes from

the Combined Information

Data Network Exchange

(CIDNE) system

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A report in USA Today on 26 January noted that the total number of IEDs that were cleared or detonated in

Afghanistan rose to 16,554 in 2011, an increase of 9% over the 15,225 events in 2010. In 2009, there were a total

of 9,304 IED events. While IEDs remain one of the primary causes of casualties for military service members,

civilians casualties are rising at an alarming rate. IEDs account for 60% of all civilian casualties, and the number

of Afghans killed or wounded by IEDs jumped 10% between 2010 and 2011 to more than 4,000.

The New York Times reported that more civilian contractors working for American companies than American

soldiers died in Afghanistan last year. The article did not specifically attribute IED’s or any specific cause of

death to the drastic increase in civilian deaths stating that “many contractors do not comply with even the current,

scanty reporting requirements”. According to data provided by the US Embassy in Kabul and other public

records, at least 430 employees of American contractors were reported killed in Afghanistan in 2011: 386

working for the Department of Defense, 43 for the United States Agency for International Development and one

for the US State Department. By comparison, 418 American soldiers died last year in Afghanistan. Experts who

have studied the issue say that the true number of private contractor deaths may be far higher. The bulk of the

known contractor deaths are concentrated among companies who provide interpreters, drivers, security guards

and support personnel.

Below are IED events that were reported in Afghanistan in January and February 2012:

The most deadly IED attack occurred over 18-19 January,

when two IED attacks in southern Afghanistan left 19 people

dead and dozens wounded, the Washington Post noted.

According to provincial officials, 13 people were killed and 20

others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his

explosives at a popular bazaar in the Kajaki district of

Helmand province on 18 January. Subsequently, a suicide

bomber killed six civilians at the entrance to a NATO airfield

at Kandahar. The Taliban took credit for the attacks.

Another incident took place in Kandahar on 12 January, when

Syed Fazluddin Agha, the administrative head of Panjwayi

district, was killed along with two of his sons and two bodyguards in a suicide VBIED. Nine Afghan

policemen and a civilian were also wounded in the attack.

A suicide bomber targeted a NATO convoy in southern Helmand province on 26 January, the New York

Times reported. The attack resulted in the death of three Afghan civilians and injured thirty others. A civilian

ISAF official was also injured.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vehicle outside the gates of Jalalabad airfield on 27

February, according to Tolo News. Local officials reported nine dead and 21 wounded in the attack on the

joint Afghan-ISAF airfield; no ISAF casualties were reported, notes the Associated Press. The Taliban

claimed the bombing were in retaliation for US troops burning copies of the Quran at Bagram airfield, reports

McClatchy.

A car bomb exploded near a police headquarters in Kandahar city in Afghanistan on 05 February, killing

seven and injuring 19, Tolo News recounted. Five of the dead were policemen, and six police and 13 civilians

were among the injured.

Suicide VBIED in Kandahar Khan/AP

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Four people were wounded in northern Takhar province on 29 February, Tolo News reported. Local officials

said a bomb placed in a car exploded near the Kabul Bank office in the provincial capital. The wounded were

taken to a nearby hospital and Afghan police have started an investigation.. No group has claimed

responsibility. In another incident in Helmand province, six people were wounded in a suicide car bomb

attack. Local officials said the incident involved a suicide bomber detonating his explosives near the

provincial police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, reported Kamal-u Din Shirzai, deputy police chief of the

province.

Pakistan

Below are IED events that were reported in Pakistan in January and February 2012:

At least 30 people were killed on 10 January after a bomb

exploded near a bus terminal in the town of Jamrud in the

Khyber tribal region, according to BBC News. Officials

say at least 60 other people were injured. Jamrud has

been the scene of several attacks in the past, the most

recent of which was a suicide bombing at a mosque in

August 2011 which killed at least 40 people. BBC News

reports that Jamrud is dominated by the Kukikhel branch

of the Afridi tribe, which has organised a militia to fight a

local faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

On 11 January, 14 paramilitary soldiers were killed in a

bomb attack in Balochistan province, Pakistani officials

told Pajhwok Afghan News. Another 15 others were injured and taken to hospital. A spokesman for the

Baloch Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Pajhwok, this was the third attack

on security forces in a week. Attacks on Pakistani soldiers have increased recently; twenty-five soldiers were

killed earlier in two attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A Pakistan official reported that at least 14 people were killed and 20 injured in a bomb blast in the Pakistani

town of Khan Pur in Punjab Province on 15 January, CNN reported. The explosion targeted Shiite Muslims

on a procession route during the holy day of Chehlum, which marks the anniversary of the seventh century

death of Imam Hussain.

At least 20 people, mainly Shia Muslims, were killed and dozens injured in a suicide attack near a mosque

following prayer in Pakistan’s north western Kurram tribal region on 17 February, according to Pajhwok

Afghan News. The attacker blew up his explosives-laden motorcycle in the market.

A car bomb detonated at an outdoor minibus terminal in north western Pakistan 23 February, killing at least

12 people and wounding 32 others, the Associated Press reported. The blast destroyed many of the vehicles

waiting to transport passengers from the city of Peshawar to other areas of the country.

Iraq

January 2012 statistics show that there was an increase in casualties during the month. Two of the three

organisations that maintain monthly death counts for Iraq showed increases in January 2012. The “Iraq Body

Count” tracking website registered 458 killed, up from 371 in December 2011. The United Nations reported 500

Border Areas, including Jamrud BBC News

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deaths in January compared to 313 the previous month. Iraqi government ministries only counted 151 deaths,

down slightly from 155 in December.

Below are IED events that were reported in Iraq in January and February 2012:

A number of bombings across the country killed at least 60 people in Iraq on 5 January, reports CNN. The

bombers targeted Shiites. Authorities said these attacks raised fears of increased sectarian violence. The

deadliest of the attack was a suicide bombing west of Nasiriya that killed at least 36 people and wounded

more than 72 others. Blasts in Baghdad killed 24 people and wounded dozens more.

A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman targeted

Shiite pilgrims outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra,

killing at least 53 people and injuring 137 others on 14

January. The explosion took place at a police

checkpoint near a Shiite mosque and occurred as

pilgrims were going to worship to commemorate

Arbaeen. Arbaeen, one of the holiest days in the Shiite

sect, commemorates the seventh century death of Imam

Hussein. These attacks marked the deadliest attack on

the Shiite community in Iraq since the US military

completed its withdrawal from the country in

December 2011.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near a funeral procession in the Baghdad district of

Zafaraniyah on 27 January, killing as many as 32 people and injuring 65 others. At least half of the dead were

policemen. Minutes after the explosion, gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint nearby, killing two other

policemen.

At least 16 people were killed on 09 January in a series of car bombings and assassinations. Two car bombs

exploded in Shiite areas in Baghdad, killing 12 people and injuring 50. In Kirkuk, two Kurdish security

personnel were killed at a checkpoint.

Iraqi officials reported 13 people have been killed in two separate bomb attacks on 26 January. Ten members

of a single family, including two police officers, were killed in a bombing in Kirkuk. In a separate incident,

three people were killed by a motorcycle bomb parked near a primary school.

According to BBC News, at least 13 people were killed and 62 wounded in four separate car bomb attacks in

Baghdad’s Shiite districts on 24 January.

Six roadside bombs planted near houses of Iraqi police officers in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, on 04

January resulted in two children killed and nine people wounded.

Simultaneous early morning attacks on mostly Shi'a targets across Iraq killed at least 60 people and wounded

dozens on 23 February, Reuters reported. The attacks appeared to pit al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim

insurgents against Shi'as, and raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian violence of 2006 and 2007.

VBIED in Iraq CNN

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Other Notable Global IED-Related Explosive Events

In addition to the IED incidents noted above in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, a number of prominent attacks

involving IEDs also took place in places such as Nigeria, Syria, Ethiopia, Iran and Somalia. These incidents are

outlined below.

Nigeria

A coordinated series of IED explosions and shootings by Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect, killed 186

people in Kano, Nigeria on 20 January, the BBC reports. Kano,

Nigeria’s second largest city, has more than nine million

people and is an important political and religious centre for

Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim North. A Boko Haram

spokesman claimed responsibility and said the attacks were

motivated by the government’s refusal to release Boko Haram

members in custody. The 20 January attacks targeted police

stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of the

Nigerian secret police and left the police headquarters and

other government buildings in ruins. Boko Haram was profiled

in the December CFC publication on “Improvised Explosive

Devices”.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Mohammed Bazoum said on 24 January that members of Boko Haram have

received explosives training at al Qaeda camps in the Sahel region of northern Africa. He further stated that

another group received training from al Shabaab in Somalia.

A suspected suicide bomber disguised in military uniform was killed on 07 February when his car bomb

exploded under fire from soldiers outside a military base in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, a Nigerian

army spokesman said. “The soldiers repelled the attack and were able to stop what will [sic] have been a

suicide bombing. However, after firing [at] the suicide bomber who tried to force his way, the bomb

exploded... The suicide bomber was the only casualty,” read a statement from the Nigerian army. Although

there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Boko Haram is suspected given similar attacks which it had

carried out recently.

Syria

Powerful car bombs exploded minutes apart outside two security headquarters in the northern Syrian city of

Aleppo on 10 February, killing 28 and injuring 235 people according to an official count; it also injured

approximately 235 people. According to a government statement, military and police personnel, as well as

civilians, were killed outside a military security headquarters and a police compound. The blasts were blamed on

opposition forces seeking the ouster of the current regime.

Somalia

The Long War Journal reported that an al Shabaab suicide bomber attacked an Ethiopian military compound

in western Somalia on 24 January. Al Shabaab claimed credit for the attack and said that 33 Ethiopian

soldiers, including four senior commanders, were killed and up to 72 injured. The attack took place in the city

of Beledweyne near the border with Ethiopia. Al Shabaab said the attack targeted a building known as the

Police Inspect Kano Bomb Site Reuters

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Regional Headquarters, which housed more than 200 Ethiopian troops. Ethiopian officials did not confirm

the number of casualties from the al Shabaab attack, but The Long War Journal said African countries which

have forces in Somalia often underreport casualties.

At least 15 people were killed and more than 20 people injured when a car bomb exploded on 09 February

near a cafe in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, the BBC reported. Officials said the vehicle was parked close to

the Hotel Muna, which is frequented by Somali politicians and which was the target of an attack by militants

in August 2010. Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli Targets

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for attacks on 13 February on Israeli embassy staff in

Georgia and India that wounded at least two people, one of them an Israeli woman, The Times of India reported.

These attacks were in addition to a bomb incident in Bangkok, Thailand, where two Iranians were arrested after

an explosion at a house they were renting. One of the men blew off his legs as he tried to throw an explosive at

police while fleeing, Thai media said. A third man was arrested in Malaysia, and Thai authorities have issued

arrest warrants for two other Iranians who have fled the country.

The Delhi Police said it will check with the authorities in Georgia and Bangkok to find out more about the

explosives used in the bomb attack on an Israeli embassy car on 13 February in Delhi, India News Online

reported. “We will get the samples of explosives from Georgia where a bomb was defused and from Bangkok,

where an attack has taken place. We will check whether the same kind of explosives was used in Monday’s

blast,” Delhi Commissioner of Police B.K. Gupta told reporters.

Iran

The Washington Post reported that a scientist associated with Iran’s nuclear programme was killed along with his

bodyguard when an unidentified attacker placed a magnetic bomb on his car in Tehran on 11 January. The

scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, is said to be the deputy director of Iran’s largest uranium-enrichment facility,

which is located near the town of Natanz. Ahmadi-Roshan is the fourth Iranian scientists killed by bombs in the

past two years. Iranian officials accused the United States and Israel for conducting the attack. US Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton “categorically denied involvement in the attack”; Israeli officials did not respond to the

allegation.

Annex A. Additional IED Resources

If your organisation has unclassified, validated density or trends data that you wish to share with the wider civil-

military community, we would be pleased if you could provide this information to the CimicWeb Security and

CIED Desk Officer Mark Checchia, mark.checchia@cimicweb.org. As always, your comments and feedback are

welcome. Please email comments to the CFC Executive Officer, robin.barnett@cimicweb.org. We encourage you

to share this unclassified thematic report with other interested civilian or military personnel.

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Annex A: Additional IED and C-IED Resources

Defence Against Suicide Bombing, Course 1 report, NATO Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism

(COE-DAT)

Defence Against Suicide Bombing, Course 2 report, NATO COE-DAT

Defence Against Suicide Bombing, Course 3 report, NATO COE-DAT

Warfighter Support. Challenges Confronting DOD's Ability to Coordinate and Oversee Its Counter-

Improvised Explosive Device Efforts Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) Oct 2009

Improving Situational Awareness in the Counter-IED Fight with the Utilization of Unmanned Sensor

Systems JIEDDO June 2009

Dragon's Claws: The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as a Weapon of Strategic Influence JIEDDO,

March 2009

“Suicide Terrorism: A Global Threat”. PBS.org. October 2009

“Combating the No. 1 killer of troops in Afghanistan” CNN, May 2010

Attack the Network, Defeat the Device and Train the Force: US Outlines its Counter-IED Strategy Defence

Update, March 2008

Recent CFC C-IED Publications

“Improvised Explosive Devices: Trends & Issues, November 2011 in Review”, December 2011. This report

provides a summary of notable IED events in November 2011. Also include a topical report on Boko Haram,

an insurgent group operating in Nigeria.

“Improvised Explosive Devices: Trends & Issues, October 2011 in Review”, November 2011. This paper

discusses the impact of high-profile attacks, such as vehicle-borne IEDs and suicide bomber attacks. Other

topics include illegal transfer of calcium aluminium nitrate into Afghanistan, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian

Peninsula IED activities in Yemen over the past several years.

“Summary of Notable Security Incidents & Trends Involving Explosive Devices – September 2011”,

October 2011. This document provides a summary of improvised explosive devices (IED) related events and

trends by global regions during September 2011.