Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

improvised explosive devices  

Definition

  • An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb manufactured in an unconventional way that incorporates destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and is designed to destroy or incapacitate people, buildings, and vehicles, including aircraft and ships. Although such devices are much older, the term is believed to have originated in Northern Ireland, when it was used by the British Army after the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) manufactured and used bombs made from fertilizer and semtex smuggled from Libya. [Source: Encyclopedia of Crisis Management; Improvised Explosive Devices]

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/improvised_explosive_devices

Download this concept: