Editing Improvised explosive device (section)

{{Short description|Unconventionally produced bomb}}{{Globalize|date=April 2022|article}}
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[[File:IED Baghdad from munitions.jpg|thumb|[[Ammunition]] rigged for an IED discovered in [[Baghdad]] by the [[Iraqi Police]] in November 2005]]
[[File:Cougar Hit By IED.jpg|thumb|A U.S. [[Cougar (MRAP)|Cougar]] which was struck by an approximately {{cvt|90|–|136|kg}} directed charge IED during the [[Anbar campaign (2003–2011)|Anbar campaign]] in September 2007. The crew of the MRAP survived uninjured due to the vehicle's multiple blast protection features.]]
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An '''improvised explosive device''' ('''IED''') is a [[bomb]] constructed and deployed in ways other than in [[conventional warfare|conventional]] military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an [[artillery]] shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as '''roadside bombs''', or '''homemade bombs'''. 

The term "IED" was coined by the [[British Army]] during the [[Northern Ireland conflict]] to refer to [[booby trap]]s made by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA]], and entered common use in the U.S. during the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=van Rij |first1=Armida |last2=Bryce |first2=Hannah |last3=Wilkinson |first3=Benedict |last4=Vining |first4=Maxine |title=Defining the device: The need for international humanitarian standards for improvised explosive device disposal |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/defining-the-device.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128101427/https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/defining-the-device.pdf |archive-date=28 January 2022 |website=kcl.ac.uk |publisher=[[King's College London]] |date=April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IEDS – Learning from History |url=http://www.defenceindustryreports.com/ieds_learning_from_history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213011444/http://www.defenceindustryreports.com/ieds_learning_from_history.html |archive-date=13 February 2011 |publisher=Defence Industry Reports |date=2009}}</ref>

IEDs are generally utilized in [[terrorist]] operations or in [[asymmetric warfare|asymmetric]] [[unconventional warfare]] or [[urban warfare]] by [[insurgent]] [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]]s or [[commando]] forces in a [[theater (warfare)|theatre of operations]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Peter W. |date=7 February 2012 |title=The Evolution of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-evolution-of-improvised-explosive-devices-ieds/ |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=Brookings |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Manglik|first=Rohit|title=ESIC STENO PHASE – I 2020 {{!}} 12 Full Length Mock Test}}</ref> In the Iraq War (2003–2011), [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)|insurgents]] used IEDs extensively against U.S.-led forces, and by the end of 2007, IEDs were responsible for approximately 63% of [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|coalition]] deaths in Iraq.<ref name="icasualties" /> They were also used in Afghanistan by insurgent groups, and caused over 66% of [[Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom|coalition]] casualties in the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|2001–2021 Afghanistan War]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Joseph|first=Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Nw0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT3484|title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives|date=15 June 2016|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=9781483359915|quote=Explosives accounted for over two thirds of the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, mostly caused by IEDs.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Combs|first=Cynthia C.|title=Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century|publisher=Taylor and Francis|year=2017|isbn=9781317206798|language=en|quote=More than two thirds of combat deaths in Iraq by 2007 were caused by IEDs.}}</ref>

IEDs were also used frequently by the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] (LTTE) in [[Sri Lanka]] during the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/srilanka/globalthreat.html |title=Suicide Terrorism: A Global Threat |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=18 October 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231193536/https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/srilanka/globalthreat.html|archive-date=December 31, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/13/stories/2006041304711500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060414141621/http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/13/stories/2006041304711500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 April 2006 |title=13 killed in blasts, arson in Sri Lanka |date=13 April 2006 |access-date=18 October 2009 |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> by [[Second Chechen War#Insurgency|the Chechen insurgency]] following the [[Second Chechen War]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Timothy L. |date=25 Jan 2007 |title=Russian Tactical Lessons Learned Fighting Chechen Separatists |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13518040500355015 |journal=Journal of Slavic Military Studies|volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=731–766 |doi=10.1080/13518040500355015 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and by [[Ambazonia]]n separatists in the ongoing [[Anglophone Crisis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cameroon Says Separatists Relaunch Attacks, IED Use After Death of Self Proclaimed General |date=3 February 2023 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/cameroon-says-separatists-re-launch-attacks-ied-use-after-death-of-self-proclaimed-general/6946344.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327221049/https://www.voanews.com/a/cameroon-says-separatists-re-launch-attacks-ied-use-after-death-of-self-proclaimed-general/6946344.html|archive-date=March 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-03 |publisher=Voice of America |language=en-US}}</ref>