Believe it or not: India had the highest number of blasts in the world
The NBDC analyses and disseminates data related to bombing incidents in India and across the world.
Last year, there were 337 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) blasts in India, according to the NBDC journal 'Bombshell'. In 2015, there were 268 IED blasts, and 190 blasts in 2014, 283 blasts in 2013 and 365 in 2012.
Iraq witnessed 221 IED blast incidents, the second highest last year. Pakistan was at the third place with 161 IED blasts. About 132 IED blasts took place in Afghanistan, 92 in Turkey, 71 in Thailand, 63 in Somalia and 56 in Syria.
In 2015, Iraq witnessed 170 IED blasts, Pakistan 208, Afghanistan 121, Iraq 170 and Syria 41.
India
The states which suffered the highest number of IED blasts last year were Chhattisgarh-60, Jammu and Kashmir-31, Kerala-33, Manipur-40, Odisha-29, Tamil Nadu-32 and West Bengal-30.
Last year, one among many high-casualty bomb blasts took place in Bihar on July 18. Ten commandos of an elite CoBRA battalion of the CRPF were killed when a squad of 200 Maoists trapped and cordoned the troops and exploded about 22 IEDs in the Aurangabad-Gaya forest area in Bihar.
Some of the other major IED incidents in India were:
Analysis of IED blasts in India
Last year, there was a 26 per cent increase in IED blast incidents vis-a-vis 2015 and casualties have increased by 3 per cent vis-a-vis 2015, according to the NBDC.
An analysis of IED data for the last 10 years (2007-2016) has revealed that there have been an average of 277 blasts, 223 fatal casualties and 724 non-fatal casualties over the years.
1. J&K saw an increase in blast incidents and casualties after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani, according to the NSG.
2. In the North-Eastern states, Manipur (40) and Assam (11) accounted for 15 per cent of total IED incidents last year.
3. Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected states accounted for 47 per cent of total IED incidents.
4. In the rest of India, Kerala (33) and Tamil Nadu (32) were the most affected states.
1. The average number of fatalities over the last 10 years has been 223 per year. There is a significant decrease in fatalities, according to the NSG.
2. LWE accounted for 65 per cent of total fatalities (73 personnel), while others accounted for 35 per cent (39 personnel).
3. The NSG notes that the higher fatalities in the LWE-affected states indicate that the Maoists are lethal, aggressive and well-adapted to the jungle terrain. The high rate of casualties has been caused by explosion of high-intensity IEDs.
1. Last year, the preferred targets of Maoists, insurgents and terrorists were public and security forces, according to the NSG.
2. The NSG assesses that in the last five years, terrorists have targeted the common public more than the security forces, which indicates that terrorists prefer to engage the softer target.
Worldwide
Top 10 countries which saw highest number of IED blasts, besides India, since 2012.
Biggest bomb blasts in the world in 2016
On May 23, about 150 people were killed and 200 others were injured when suicide bombers of the IS triggered two explosive devices planted in cars, before blowing themselves at Jableh and Tartous on the Mediterranean coast of Syria.
Analysis of worldwide IED blasts
Last year, more than 73 per cent of the IED blast incidents in the world took place at public areas, just as in India, according to the NSG. The second most-preferred target of terrorists across the world were security forces.
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