Addressing the threat posed by IEDs: National, regional and global initiatives

The report, Addressing the threat posed by IEDs: National, regional and global initiatives, seeks to respond to the threat posed by IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) by investigating the C-IED (Counter-IED) initiatives that are being conducted around the world. The report focuses on three of the most-impacted regions: the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel. The paper also identifies Afghanistan, Kenya, Somalia, Pakistan and Ukraine as five additional countries that are highly impacted by IEDs and therefore warrant examination.

Through examining over 300 C-IED actors around the globe, our research finds that C-IED initiatives vary greatly from country to country. Not only were the typical ‘destroy the device’, ‘train the force’ and ‘attack the network’ approaches found, but efforts that fall under the banner of counterterrorism, demining and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) featured as well. Such efforts have the ability to greatly reduce IED usage, as well as serving to disrupt the networks that use them, and consequently were essential to incorporate.

The report found that there are still many challenges that need to be addressed in the battle to combat the rising tide of IEDs, particularly the provision of resources and equipment, victim assistance and information sharing. The report, to support this need, highlights past successes that might give insight on how to best meet these challenges.

Below you can find links to each section of the report.

Overview

Counter-IED

National C-IED initiatives

Middle East region:

Bahrain

Cyprus

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Oman

Palestine – Gaza

Palestine – West Bank

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Syria

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

Yemen

Middle East conclusions

North Africa region

Algeria

Egypt

Libya

Morocco

Sudan

Tunisia

Western Sahara

North Africa conclusions

Sahel region

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Chad

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Mali

Mauritania

Niger

Nigeria

Senegal

South Sudan

Sahel conclusions

Other highly impacted countries

Afghanistan

Kenya

Pakistan

Somalia

Ukraine

Regional C-IED initiatives

International initiatives

Conclusion

To see a list of all the C-IED actors examined as part of the project, please go here. To read the full report, ‘Addressing the threat posed by IEDs: National, Regional and Global Initiatives’, see here. To see those engaged in the Middle East, the Sahel, North Africa or other highly impacted countries please see here, here, here, and here respectively. This research was made possible by funding from the NATO Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.