Publication

Since October 2001, im provised explosive devices (IEDs, roadside bombs, and suicide car bombs) have been responsible for many of the combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vehicle-borne IEDs and car bombs are now used to strike police stations, markets, and mosques, killing local citizens as well as U.S. troops. U.S. forces counter the devices through utilizing intelligence sources, and by disrupting portions of the radio spectrum that insurgents use to trigger IEDs. Insurgents quickly adapt to countermeasures, and new, more sophisticated IEDs are increasingly being used in both Iraq and Afghanistan.