'Home-made' IED leaves 5 terrorists dead in Afghanistan: What is Improvised Explosive device

New Delhi, Nov 11: Terrorist groups can use Improvised Explosive device (IED) to inflict severe damage. Being relatively cheap and easy to make, it has become the primary weapon of the terrorist groups.

IEDs are said to be relatively cheap as the materials used to make them cost less. It allows terrorists to customise the trigger mechanism. Radio-controlled IED (RCIED) are reportedly popular these days as cell phones or a simple radio-controlled (RC) firing circuit can be used to trigger the explosion.

Xinhua News reported today that a home-made IED or improvised explosive device went-off prematurely on Sunday when the terrorists were planting it to target the security forces. The blast killed five terrorists and grievously wounded three others.

"The explosive went off at about 8 p.m. local time Sunday when militants were busy in planting an improvised explosive device (IED) along a road in Haji Mehrab locality of Ali Abad district in the south of Kunduz. The militants tried to plant the home-made IED to target security forces but they became victim of their vicious plan," Afghan army 217 Pamir Corps said in a statement, as per a Xinhua report.

The term 'Home-made IED' suggests that terrorists have learned to make it. In fact, IED attack has now become a signature of the Taliban in Afghanistan. IED is lethal and feared by the security forces.

Even back home, the Naxals extensively used IEDs. A reputed news website had once quoted a the biggest enemy of the security forces in Naxal-infested areas and the Northeast weren't the terrorists, but the IEDs planted by them. It is said that one of the tactics used by the Pakistani terrorists is to cross the and train local terrorists how to make and use the IEDs.

As per the United Nation, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are among the world's oldest types of weapons. IED) is an improved version of a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action.

A research says that between 2004-2014, over a lakh people were killed in IED attacks across the world out of which three-fourths were civilians.

Components of IED:

• A switch (activator)
• An initiator (fuse)
• Container (body)
• Charge (explosive)
• A power source (battery)

There different ways to trigger an IED explosion:

Wire - Command-wire improvised, explosive devices (CWIED) use an electrical firing cable that affords the user complete control over the device.

Radio - A radio-controlled improvised explosive device (RCIED) is controlled by radio link. An RCIED can be triggered by any number of different radio-frequency based mechanisms.

Mobile phone - A radio-controlled IED (RCIED) incorporating a mobile phone that is modified and connected to an electrical firing circuit.

Infrared - Although rare, terrorists have used infrared light beams to trigger IEDs.