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“IEDs are by far the most significant cause of ISAF and ANSF casualties in Afghanistan. The US Department of Defense defines an IED as a “device placed or fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract. While IEDs might contain military parts, they are normally constructed from non-military components. The term IED was originally developed by the British military in the 1970s, in response to the widespread use of homemade bombs consisting of agricultural fertilisers and plastic explosives by the Irish Republican Army.”

“In military terms, most IEDs, whether lethal or not, achieve a so-called ‘block’ function, whereby insurgents try to deny ISAF or ANSF troops access to key areas or prevent them from advancing in certain directions. In this way, IEDs disrupt and slow manoeuvre and momentum in counter-insurgency operations at the local level, which can, ultimately, have a strategic effect”

“A command wire IED is an IED that is initiated by an electrical firing cable that gives the firer complete control over the device until detonation occurs. In Afghanistan, the firing wire is often buried under roads, walls or buildings and therefore is very difficult to detect. The device is usually detonated by attaching a small battery to the wire that fires the electrical charge to the explosive device(s). These wires are often very long, in order to protect the firer from the explosion, so overwatchers, so-called ‘dickers’, are frequently employed to watch the site of such an IED and alert the firer when ISAF or ANSF forces approach. Often, these overwatchers are children, creating many complexities in terms of the military rules of engagement.”

“Radio-controlled IEDs are initiated by radio link. The device is constructed with a receiver connected to an electronic firing circuit. The firer operates the transmission device from a distance, and the signal from the transmitter then causes the receiver to transmit a firing pulse that initiates a switch. Often, this switch fires the initiator, but it can also be used to remotely arm a device. These IEDs can be triggered by any number of different mechanisms, including car alarms, wireless garage openers, cell phones, pagers and encrypted walkie talkies”

“Victim operated IED switches are often well hidden from the victim or disguised as everyday household objects, such as oil cans or crockery. When the object is moved, the IED’s switch is triggered. Switching mechanisms include tripwires, pressure plates or mats, spring-loaded releases as well as switches activated when pushed, pulled or tilted. They are often buried on roads to destroy vehicles or are used against foot patrols. These IEDs are the most commonly used in Afghanistan, accounting for approximately 70 per cent of IEDs, according to British military officials. A particularly common form of victim-operated IEDs works with pressure plates. These are often triggered by two hack-saw blades separated using a spacer. Stepping on or driving over these blades completes an electronic circuit, detonating the explosives.”

“Passive infra-red IEDs use a laser infra-red beam as a trigger mechanism, which is almost undetectable. They produce explosively formed projectiles and proved devastatingly effective in Iraq against even the most heavily armoured vehicles. They were also developed by insurgents to negate the increasing effectiveness of Coalition technologies targeted at blocking radio frequencies.”

“So-called ‘daisy chain’ IEDs, which consist of numerous, inter-linked IEDs, have been used to cause mass casualties against foot patrols.”

“In terms of survivability, vehicle designs are continuously evolving to counter the IED threat. Floating V-shaped hulls, increased armour and better design are common to the safest vehicles now operating in Afghanistan, such as the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP), Mastiff and Ridgeback armoured patrol vehicles. Roller systems have been attached to vehicles to reduce the effectiveness of pressure-detonated, victim-operated IEDs and to maintain mobility, as have jammer systems. Vast improvements in military medical systems and equipment technology, such as surgical teams on casualty extraction helicopters, better haemorrhage-preventing medical equipment and shortened flight times from the battlefield to the nearest hospital, continue to lower the lethality of successful IED strikes, as have improvements in lightweight body armour.”

“Whereas soldiers on ISTAR missions usually lose their effectiveness after a certain number of hours, a Predator can stay in the air for up to 40 hours, for example. Thus, drones can often hover for hours over acquired targets. Precision is a crucial aspect as well. Hellfire missiles, a common type employed with the widely-used Predator and Reaper models, are more precise than air strikes conducted by manned bombers. Still, they often cause collateral damage, and, hence, the defence industry is working hard to develop smaller and more precise missiles, designed for urban use, such as the 35-pound, 11-cm-in-diameter Scorpion or the even smaller 13-pound Small Tactical Munition.”

“On 14 November 2001, the first strike of an armed UAV took place in Afghanistan, when a combined F-15/Predator attack killed Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, including Mohammed Atef, al-Qaeda’s senior military commander and one of the key planners of the attacks of 11 September 2001.”

“UAV flights also try to spot insurgents who are in the process of placing IEDs. The US military, for example, currently has over 25 ‘round-the-clock’ surveillance patrols in the air, compared to only nine in 2008.60 Convoy roads are a prime target for laying IEDs. Countries like Australia thus watch over key roads with unarmed surveillance drones, and British and American UAVs, equipped with missiles, neutralise bomb planters if spotted.”

“At this point, more than 60 balloons are tethered in the skies over Afghanistan, and the United States aims to double this number in 2011. Flying about 600 m above ground, the balloons can monitor activities in large areas, having a maximum sensor range of about 32 km.”

“The M-160 (MV4B) is a larger, car-sized robot on tracks that clears mine or IED fields by striking the soil with metal flails on a roller in front of the vehicle.”

“Under President Obama, the United States has considerably stepped up the controversial, secret drone strikes on suspected militants in Pakistan. These strikes have come under renewed and extensive scrutiny and criticism after the Abbottabad raid on Osama bin Laden. Notably, the operation was not carried out by a drone strike, but by US Special Forces on the ground, with a low-observable RQ-170 Sentinel providing surveillance and a continuous data feed to the White House. Since his inauguration in 2009, the President has presumably ordered or approved up to 223 drone attacks, according to the New America Foundation, a non-partisan US think tank that closely monitors the UAV campaign in Pakistan, keeping in mind that the United States does not publicly deny or confirm these strikes. At the time of writing, 52 strikes had already taken place in 2011. In contrast, the Bush Administration ordered only about 50 attacks in eight years.”

“After the raid in Abbottabad, which Pakistan’s authorities have vehemently protested against as a severe violation of their sovereignty....”

“The precise US guidelines for applying lethal force during UAV missions in Pakistan are,
naturally, classified. However, Amitai Etzioni, a national security expert from George Washington University, has said, based on confidential interviews, that a points system is being used, whereby higher numbers are allotted to civilians in the target area and lower numbers to enemy combatants – the higher value the target, the lower the numbers. The higher the total score, the less likely it is that the strike will be approved and the higher up the decision must be made. Sources familiar with the procedures say that the US Ambassador to Pakistan must sign off on every strike.”

“the government did, indeed, shut down NATO supply lines
to Afghanistan in 2010, after a helicopter intrusion from Afghanistan left several Pakistani soldiers dead”

https://www.ft.dk/samling/20111/almdel/npa/bilag/7/1042253.pdf