Six years of IED attacks located U Z B E K I S TA N TA J I K I S TA N

IED attacks year by year

This map shows the location of every improvised explosive device (IED)
attack logged by the database. It includes IED explosions and ambushes 2004
(where an explosion includes Taliban small arms fire and RPG attacks, for
instance). It excludes hoaxes and suicide bombers

Mazar-e
Sharif
Kunduz Kunduz is the heart of the Total
German military deployment. In the 191
last year troops have suffered
increasing rocket and IED attacks
T U R K M E N I S TA N
Meymaneh 2005
Korengal Valley Most contested
battlefield for US soldiers until they
shifted to Helmand in 2009. Dubbed
‘the valley of death’ by US forces, more
than 42 soldiers had died there when it
withdrew its forces

Total
Charikar First recorded IED attack 366
Kabul The capital has been rocked
25 January 2004, midnight: US
by a series of daring Taliban attacks
marines ambushed south of Abad
A FG H A N I S TA N on five-star hotels, shopping
centres, UN guesthouses and
Kabul A01
with IED and RPG fire
2006
government ministries
A01
Jalalabad
Herat

Highway One (A01) Key 1,375-mile

A01 road ringing the country. The busiest Peshawar
stretch, from Kabul to Kandahar, is a
life-threatening journey for all but the Khost Stomping ground of Sirajuddin Haqqani,
most heavily protected vehicles one of the Taliban's fiercest commanders, and Islamabad Total
the site of hundreds of attacks on US troops,
Gardez
many by insurgents crossing from safe havens
797
Highway One (A01) in Pakistan's tribal belt PA K I S TA N
2007
Last recorded IED attack of 2009 Sangin The most dangerous town in Afghanistan for Kandahar Spiritual homeland of the Taliban, the
Sangin, 31 December: A dismounted Nato soldiers, accounting for a third of British fatalities base of leader Mullah Muhammad Omar until he
patrol of The Rifles hit by an IED which since 2001. Located near the main highway that rings was forcibly ejected by US troops in 2001.
killed one soldier and wounded two more the country, it is a major transit centre for opium and Winning the town back has been a long-held
most deaths have been caused by IEDs. The British are desire of the insurgents, who have dispatched
due to hand control to US troops in November dozens of suicide bombers there

A01
Total
1,147
A01

2008

Kandahar

IRAN
See enlarged detail

Total
Lashkar Gah Provincial capital of Helmand
and home to British miltiary command
1,632
(although most troops are located in Camp
Bastion, to the north-west). Last week two
British soldiers were killed near Lashkar Gah 2009
as they tried to rescue an injured colleague

HELMAND KANDAHAR Quetta

Total
HELMAND KANDAHAR 3,420
100 miles 20 miles

IEDs exploded and cleared 20 Aug 2009 Where the IEDs exploded Civilian victims of IEDs measured by the database 1,569
Explosion/ambush Found/cleared
Presidential 537 North
Killed by IEDs Wounded by IEDs
7,553 8,582
election West
274 2,187 4,811
CHINA
Total Total 454 364 Capital
Total Total
1,257 IRAN
400
1 Jan 2006 - British troops move into southern
221 Casualty figures are not measured accurately
on the database - these numbers give an

300
Afghanistan as part of Nato International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
indication of the effect rather than a
comprehensive statistical analysis
993 INDIA
Total*
9 Sep 2008 - Extra 4,500 US troops to
Afghanistan - the “quiet surge"
7,553
East
770 793
200
2,983
9 Oct 2004 – Hamid Karzai
wins presidential elections 518
with 55% of vote South
100
3,701 347 360
122 96 126
0
1 Dec 2009 - Obama boosts US troop numbers
by 30,000, bringing total to 100,000 47 GRAPHIC: PAUL SCRUTON, MICHAEL ROBINSON, IAN JEFFRIES
DATAPOINTS: DAITHI O’CRUALAOICH
CAPTIONS: DECLAN WALSH, SIMON ROGERS
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 *Unknown 10 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009