Bombings by terrorists may be a routine feature across trouble-torn countries worldwide, but India tops the list globally in bearing the brunt of IED explosions. As many as 268 IED explosions were reported in the country in 2015 leaving 117 people dead and 457 injured. India accounted for about 20.5 per cent of all the IED explosions reported in 68 countries last year.
In fact, 2015 saw a 41 per cent increase in IED blasts in India in comparison to 2014. And the resultant casualties increased by 55 per cent. Between 2006 to 2015, there have been an average of 280 blasts yearly with 270 fatalities and 850 non-fatal casualties.
Pakistan follows India with 208 IED blasts. The neighbouring country, however, had 1,308 blasts in 2015. Iraq (170), Bangladesh (167), Afghanistan (121), Nigeria (91) and Egypt (87) were the other nations most hit by the IED explosions.
Syria, hit by ISIS violence, reported 41 explosions last year, according to data compiled by the National Bomb Data Centre of the elite counter-terror force National Security Guard (NSG).
Philippines reported 39 IED blasts followed by 37 in Yemen, 32 in Turkey, 30 in Thailand, 28 in Somalia and 22 in Ukraine.
Israel reported 11 blasts, lebanon registered seven explosions followed by nine in Saudi Arabia.
In 2015, the most preferred targets in India were public areas and security forces. There was a 17 per cent increase in targeting of public areas in 2015 in contrast to 2014. likewise, there was a 16 per cent decrease in targeting of security forces in 2015. “This shift to soft targets is an indication of better handling of IED threat by Security Forces,” the NSG pointed out.
While 268 IED blasts were reported in 2015, the number was 190 in 2014, 212 in 2013, 241 in 2012 and 172 in 2011. The number of casualties reported in 2014 was 75, 130 in 2013, 113 in 2012 and 157 in 2011.
Naxal-affected areas reported the most number of IED blasts with 131 explosions in 2015 followed by the North-East with 72 blasts, 14 in Jammu & Kashmir and 51 in rest of the country. The figures in 2014 was 98 in Naxal-affected States, 61 in North-East, 19 in Jammu & Kashmir and 12 in other parts of the country.
The Naxal-hit States accounted for 49 per cent of total IED incidents last year. West Bengal (39 blasts), Chhattisgarh 39, Jharkhand 15 and Odisha (15) were the worst affected States in 2015. However, fatalities in North-East were higher with 52 casualties (42 per cent of total casualties) as against 46 deaths in Naxal areas last year.
Apart from the traditional insurgency-hit North-East and Naxal areas and terror-hit Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh with 20 IED blasts in 2015 in the Rest of India category was the worst affected.
“The higher fatalities ratio in North-East States is indicative of better training and resoluteness of the terror outfits operating there. There is a need to impart more training and better equipping of the security forces engaged in the North-East,” a senior official said.
The assessment of the National Bomb Data Centre suggests the higher casualty ratio in the Naxal areas is an indication of increasing expertise of the Maoists as regards IEDs.
The IED menace is spreading to the rest of the country and is not restricted to Naxal areas, North-East and Jammu & Kashmir, the assessment suggests.
Eighty per cent of the IEDs exploded in 2015 were made from high explosives aimed to cause mass casualties. High explosives are preferred by terrorist groups but the easy availability of such materials is a matter of grave concern and a strict control regime has to be put in place, the NBDC highlighted in its annual journal.