ReliefWeb

By Chiara Torelli on 13 May 2022

On the evening of Thursday 12 May, one person was killed and 13 were injured when an IED exploded in Karachi, Pakistan. The bombing was reportedly targeting a van carrying Pakistan security forces in the city's Saddar neighbourhood. Two members of the security forces were amongst the injured. The rest of the casualties were civilians.

The IED, which was attached to a motorcycle, exploded outside a hotel on Daudpota Road, damaging vehicles and buildings in the surrounding area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but it follows two weeks after a BLA-affiliated suicide bomber blew up a car transporting Chinese civilians in Karachi.

Since 2010, AOAV has recorded 269 incidents of explosive violence in Karachi, as reported in English-language media. These incidents have caused a reported 2, 233 civilian casualties. 35% (95) of those incidents involved IEDs, and they caused 56% (1, 256) of the civilian casualties of explosive violence in Karachi since 2010.

Since 2010, AOAV has recorded 2, 847 incidents of explosive weapons use in Pakistan reported in English-language media, which have caused a total of 22, 855 recorded civilian casualties. 48% (1, 356) of those incidents involved IEDs, which are responsible for 72% (16, 388) of the reported civilian casualties.

Civilians account for 80% of the total casualties of IEDs in Pakistan since 2010 (20, 572), and 70% of total casualties of explosive violence in Pakistan since 2010 (32, 610).

Globally, AOAV has recorded 13, 895 incidents of IED explosions reported in English-language media since 2010, which have caused 139, 440 civilian casualties and 39, 804 armed actor casualties. Of the civilian casualties, at least 2, 427 have been women, and 4, 536 have been children.

The worst affected countries for IED-related explosive violence since 2010 have been Iraq (44, 827 civilian casualties), Afghanistan (25, 047), Pakistan (16, 388), Syria (14, 147), and Nigeria (9, 424).