IEDs

Nepal

IEDs were widely used in the 10-years long Nepalese Civil War by the Nepalese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). PLA fighters used rifles captured from the police and a variety of IEDs. The PLA lacked mortars and crew-served weapons, and thus employed human-waves attacks of "martyrs" to break enemy defenses, resulting in heavy casualties. PLA regulars had excellent infantry skills, possibly indicating foreign training. IEDs were the main weapon the insurgents used against government forces, typically causing 35 percent of the deaths among Royal Nepal Army (RNA) troops and 50 percent of injuries. Simple IEDs included hand-thrown "socket bombs" made with black powder and shrapnel, and larger bombs made with steel pipes and pressure cockers detonated by wire or remote control. The effectiveness of the IED campaign also suggested foreign training, probably from Indian Maoists groups.