Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq and Afghanistan: Effects and Countermeasures

Wilson, Clay

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Emergency management;    Military operations - U.S. - Iraq;    Terrorism;    Defense policy;    International affairs;   

RP-ID  :  RS22330
RP-ID  :  RS22330_2006Sep25

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This report discusses Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs, or roadside bombs) in Iraq and Afghanistan. IEDs have been responsible for many of the more than 2,000 combat deaths in Iraq, and 178 combat deaths in Afghanistan.IEDs are hidden behind signs and guardrails, under roadside debris, or inside animal carcasses, and encounters with these bombs are becoming more numerous and deadly in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The threat includes vehicle-borne IEDs, in which extremists drive cars laden with explosives directly into a target. DOD efforts to counter IEDs have proven only marginally effective, and U.S.forces continue to be exposed to the threat at military checkpoints, or whenever onpatrol. IEDs are increasingly being used in Afghanistan, and DOD reportedly isconcerned that they might eventually be more widely used by other insurgents andterrorists worldwide.