U.S. Policies and Actions Aim to Counter Improvised Explosive Device Threats

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) pose a significant threat to communities across the globe. Recent domestic incidents involving IEDs include the Boston Marathon bombings, San Bernardino attack, New York/New Jersey bombings, and numerous attacks in Europe, most notably the recent bombings in Paris, Brussels, and Manchester. Around the world, IEDs are increasingly joining landmines and unexploded munitions as a growing challenge to U.S. efforts to help countries recover and rebuild after conflict.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, terrorists and insurgents have used IEDs in the form of roadside bombs to wound and kill U.S. and coalition military personnel and civilians, to weaken and disrupt coalition operations, and to undermine public confidence in the government’s ability to provide security. Today, as ISIS has retreated in Iraq and Syria, it has left behind complex IEDs in homes, schools, hospitals, and other places specifically designed to target civilians returning to their communities.