Improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks- asymmetrical tactics strategically used by insurgents in conflicts areas

In operational theatres like Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, insurgents are using asymmetrical fight tactics, constantly initiating surprise attacks against designated or occasional targets which, at some point, become vulnerable.

Attackers are using the surprise element and are also trying to keep a permanent pressure on local defence and security forces, but also on international coalitions’ forces, involved in solving some asymmetrical conflicts and stabilize the affected area, by avoiding the direct military confrontations with the superior forces. They want to hit enemy’s center of gravity[1], their cohesion. Insurgents’ psychological strategic objective is to determine such state actors to give up their force actions targeting the insurgence, through intimidation and the maintenance of fear and terror.

In all this endless cat and mouse game, the insurgents are, sometimes, executing attacks with IEDs (improvised explosive devices), suicide attacks and inside attacks against governmental structures, national defence and security forces, member of the international coalition, but also civilians, even risking to seriously break the art. 3’s provisions, which is common to all four Geneva’s conventions that are establishing international right’s standards in terms of humanitarian issues.

Unfortunately, over the years, during the participation to missions outside the national territory, Romanian militaries, as well as militaries belonging to other nations, have become the victims of such violent actions, ending by being hurt, mutilated or killed.

However, despite the human loses tragedy and the fact that is seriously affecting the life and dignity of the population which is temporary staying in conflict areas, insurgents’ violent actions aimed at impressing the public opinion, both regionally and globally, do not seem to be extremely effective in making more fragile the cohesion of member forces belonging to international coalitions that are fighting terrorism. In fact, they got the opposite effect.

What are IEDs and the suicide attacks?

I remember that 15 years ago, for the first time ever, I have faced, among others, the risk of becoming a victim of IEDs or suicide attacks initiated by Iraqi insurgents (a complex mix of Sunni nationalists, supporters of the former Ba’ath regime, Sunni Iraqi Islamic, members of Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Mehdy Army, foreign Islamic extremists, volunteers who were not affiliated to any group, foreign Arab and Islamic volunteering groups, as well as the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi- the Qaeda Organization for the Sacred War in Iraq, but also paid criminals or politically-motivated ones) during my participation at the first long-period mission in the Operation Theatre in Iraq.

It was the moment I found out what permanent fear means, when you are highly at risk of being involved in such an attack, while I was executing the mixed patrol missions (together with coalition partners) or I was accompanying convoys on the main supply routes in south-east Iraq, between the border with Kuwait and different military bases, or oil refineries in Bsra, Shuaiba, Umm Qasr Port of Tallil.

According to NATO, an improvised explosive device (IED) is an unconventional explosive weapon, which can take any shape and can be activated in many ways, targeting both the military personnel and civilians. According to its definition, it can be handcrafted.

IEDs are used by insurgents, terrorists, suicidal attackers and even criminals to kill, destroy, harass, create chaos or panic or simply distract. As these improvised devices can be easily created and bought, and the explosive charge can reach a great destruction power, these are the unconventional weapons that rebels find very effective.

They can hide them under stones, along the road or they can bury them in the pavement or the road, these can be hidden in cooler doses, in a pipe on the wayside, inside of a bag or a luggage, in a truck or a vehicle, they can even hide them inside dead animals’ bodies, which are put on wayside, it can be fixed in the infrastructure or trees along the road or simply carried by an individual in a bag, who is entering a market or a crowded store. Because of their construction, these can be activated remotely, by simply pushing a button on a remote of a phone.

A suicide attack can actually be any violent attack which is politically reasoned or was executed due to complaints wherein the aggressor accepts his own death as a direct result of the method he used (often by carrying explosive devices and charges on his body or by carrying them in a trap vehicle and then activate it), to damage, deteriorate or completely destroy a designated or occasional target.

A combination between these two asymmetrical tactics is using vehicles with explosive charges (inside or outside), which are then going to be activated from the inside by the driver or others against designated or occasional targets (suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device- SVBIED).

One of the purposes of using such SVBIED tactics is making security breaches in enemy’s defence device and entering in the objective to execute other types of attacks. Such tactics have been used recently by the Taliban insurgents to execute the two attacks in Kabul, at the beginning of September, when there were killed two of the Romanian special operations forces operators.

When it comes to planning, initiating and executing IED or suicide attack, insurgents or terrorists’ imagination is limitless. Furthermore, they are whether too motivated or simply desperate. I was recently reading that the militants of the so-called “Islamic State” group from Iraq has started to use bovine as suicide bombers, as using human suicide bombers was no longer an option due to the lack of personnel caused by the human loses they had during the 4 years of conflict.

How can one prevent and respond to such attacks?

I remember that the most commonly used and simple phrases I have learned in the operation theatre since I first got in the mission and that I then frequently used during these patrol missions (as commander, driver and passenger) was: “Shoot right”!, “Shoot left!”, “Slow it down!”, “Go faster!” and, obviously, “Stop!”. These were the warning commands of the one in charge with the patrol or the convoy in case of any IED or SVBIED threat, by which we had to immediately evacuate the dangerous area, by going ahead, back, sidewise or stopping and moving to a safe and distant position.

Then, we had to establish a security perimeter, to verify the area and then identify the possible IEDs, supplementary placed, and the possible enemy/insurgent activities (the maneuver, ambush execution, the use of grenades, fire etc.), get ready to fight back and, if the case, ask for support from the closest quick reaction unit, for backups. The main information that were sent to superiors, but also to neighbors, were: “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “When?”. Threat’s priority.

Among the warnings we had to follow, the most important were: Never get close to a suspect IED! Do no touch explosion wires! Identify and follow the command wires! Do not focus on finding IED, but ensuring force protection! Obviously, there were other instructions and activities as well.

In case of possible suicide attack threats with SVBIED vehicles, however, things were more complicated and, in order to prevent them, the only method was always being, mentally and physically, “ready to fight”, ready to react, in the shortest time possible, and then get to force’s necessary escalation. We had to monitor and control our tactical space, over at least 100 meters, and avoid the crowd or sending our own troops and methods in a small maneuvering space.

Among the static and dynamic defence measures against SVBIED, we had to install Arab signs on force’s vehicles (keep distance or do not exceed), using signs made by the hooter or just by hand towards vehicle’s passengers and intensely using offensive tactics when driving. According to our contracts, we had to use our weapons then. Easy to say it, however, difficult to actually do it without a continuous training and instruction, but also a cold blood and spirit. Unfortunately, there were many occasions when the personnel who was on mission did not have time to respond and they have ended tragically (cars blocked on traffic or stopped at the stoplight or control points etc.).

One of the most important lessons I have learned was that the chances to be the victim of such incidents are smaller if you permanently have the best and precise information about the security condition of the road you are about to use and that if you are truly well-prepared and trained you can actually make it through. Overall, chance and faith are important too.

Instead of epilogue

In Afghanistan, where Romania has many militaries in operation theatres (the fifth place as contributory nation), with all of the national Afghan security and defence forces and the coalition forces’ efforts to limit insurgent groups’ ability to attack, the Taliban, as well as members of the affiliated group, the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) ISIS-Kurasan (ISIS-K) continue to effectively use IED and terrorist suicide attacks.

According to some conclusions made by the International Coalition led by NATO, Resolute Support, and mentioned in the last SIGAR report (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction), although these are, somehow, decreasing comparing to the same period of the last year, the number of effective attacks executed by insurgents in Afghanistan has increased with 17% comparing to the first trimester of this year. Most of the victims among the civilians (43%) were caused by IED attacks.

Furthermore, even if we are only referring to the last month and only to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, both members of ISIS-K, and the Taliban, have executed 3 suicide attacks, ended with many victims. The bloodiest terrorist attack in 2019, in this country, was the one that took place on 18^th of August, when a suicide bomber, member of ISIS-K, has killed at least 63 people and hurt many others when he detonated himself in the middle of a crowd that was participating to a wedding, in one of the Shia districts, in West of the Afghan capital.

From the beginning of the year, 9 Romanian militaries belonging to 300^th Battalion Force Protection “Saint Andrew”, from Galati, were hurt during their mission in Kandahar, south of Afghanistan, in IED attacks.

The other two Special Forces Romanian militaries (one member of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the other one member of the 52th Special Operations Battalion, from Buzau) were killed during their specific missions, after suicide attack with SVBIED vehicles, initiated and executed by Taliban insurgents in the so-called “Green Village”, in capital Kabul, at the beginning of September.

 As many of the special operations are military actions which are extremely important in combating asymmetrical conflicts actions like the ones taking place in Afghanistan, the specific combat mission to insurgents’ offensive actions executed in the field by the special forces are numerous. Consequently, these military capabilities’ members may be the ones to be exposed the most to such attacks and the might even become targets, including specific targets for the insurgents.

But, as one of DSM’s greatest and well-informed fans was writing me on a social media platform, immediately after the two recent unfortunate events wherein two Romanian militaries died, on the costs of being part of such operation theatre mission outside the national territory “Nothing justifies or replaces one’s life!”.

I have expressed my perspective on Romania’s military presence justification in Afghanistan and the strategic importance of this event. I was also explaining, then, that despite the current peace negotiations with the Taliban, I think that SOF will be the last national troops to come back from the Afghanistan OT, not sooner than 2020.

In fact, in the meantime, after the last suicide attack executed by Taliban insurgents, Tuesday, 5^th of September 2019, with a trap car, against a military convoy of the International Coalition which was about to enter a secure zone of the so-called “Green Village” in center of Kabul, ended with the death of 12 people, among them two militaries from the special operations forces (a Romanian and an American), president Donald Trump has called off the peace dialogue with the Taliban. He was asking, rhetorically “What kind of people would kill so many people to strengthen their negotiation position?”, and then offering the response through a twitter message that, in fact, “They did not strengthened their negotiation position, they made it worse!”.

What do you think, how much will the mission in Afghanistan continue?

Translated by Andreea Soare