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IED attacks year by year AFGHANISTAN PAKISTAN TURKMENISTAN UZBEKISTAN TAJIKISTAN IRAN Total 191 2004 Total 366 2005 Total 797 2006 Total 1,147 2007 Total 1,632 2008 Total 3,420 2009 0 100 200 300 400 IEDs exploded and cleared 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 537 Explosion/ambush Found/cleared Total 7,553 Total 8,582 454 20 Aug 2009 Presidential election Killed by IEDs Wounded by IEDs Total 2,187 Total 4,811 Civilian victims of IEDs measured by the database 2009 1,569 1,257 993 770 126 96 793 518 360 347 47 122 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Where the IEDs exploded Capital 221 East 2,983 North 274 South 3,701 West 364 *Unknown 10 Total* 7,553 20 miles HELMAND KANDAHAR Kabul Islamabad Herat Meymaneh Charikar Peshawar Jalalabad Quetta Kandahar Mazar-e Sharif Gardez 100 miles HELMAND KANDAHAR 9 Oct 2004 – Hamid Karzai wins presidential elections with 55% of vote 1 Jan 2006 - British troops move into southern Afghanistan as part of Nato International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) 9 Sep 2008 - Extra 4,500 US troops to Afghanistan - the “quiet surge" 1 Dec 2009 - Obama boosts US troop numbers by 30,000, bringing total to 100,000 First recorded IED attack 25 January 2004, midnight: US marines ambushed south of Abad with IED and RPG fire Sangin The most dangerous town in Afghanistan for Nato soldiers, accounting for a third of British fatalities since 2001. Located near the main highway that rings the country, it is a major transit centre for opium and most deaths have been caused by IEDs. The British are due to hand control to US troops in November 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 Khost Stomping ground of Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of the Taliban's fiercest commanders, and the site of hundreds of attacks on US troops, many by insurgents crossing from safe havens in Pakistan's tribal belt Kunduz Kunduz is the heart of the German military deployment. In the last year troops have suffered increasing rocket and IED attacks Kandahar Spiritual homeland of the Taliban, the base of leader Mullah Muhammad Omar until he was forcibly ejected by US troops in 2001. Winning the town back has been a long-held desire of the insurgents, who have dispatched dozens of suicide bombers there Lashkar Gah Provincial capital of Helmand and home to British miltiary command (although most troops are located in Camp Bastion, to the north-west). Last week two British soldiers were killed near Lashkar Gah as they tried to rescue an injured colleague Kabul The capital has been rocked by a series of daring Taliban attacks on five-star hotels, shopping centres, UN guesthouses and government ministries Last recorded IED attack of 2009 Sangin, 31 December: A dismounted patrol of The Rifles hit by an IED which killed one soldier and wounded two more Highway One (A01) Key 1,375-mile road ringing the country. The busiest stretch, from Kabul to Kandahar, is a life-threatening journey for all but the most heavily protected vehicles See enlarged detail CHINA IRAN INDIA Casualty figures are not measured accurately on the database - these numbers give an indication of the effect rather than a comprehensive statistical analysis This map shows the location of every improvised explosive device (IED) attack logged by the database. It includes IED explosions and ambushes (where an explosion includes Taliban small arms fire and RPG attacks, for instance). It excludes hoaxes and suicide bombers Six years of IED attacks located GRAPHIC: PAUL SCRUTON, MICHAEL ROBINSON, IAN JEFFRIES DATAPOINTS: DAITHI O’CRUALAOICH CAPTIONS: DECLAN WALSH, SIMON ROGERS A01 A01 A01 A01 A01 Highway One (A01)
