Direct proof of use
Vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices were documented repeatedly in the 2001 War in Afghanistan. UNAMA's 2017 midyear protection report recorded a May 31, 2017 vehicle-borne IED attack in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan area, where a waste-water vacuum tanker truck carrying at least 2,000 kilograms of military-grade explosives detonated during morning rush hour.
Human Rights Watch documented another Kabul case on January 27, 2018, when an ambulance rigged with explosives detonated near Sedarat Square after passing the first checkpoint on a street used by ambulances because of its proximity to Jamhuriat Hospital. HRW reported that the Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
UNAMA's October 2018 special report also documented Islamic State Khorasan Province use of a suicide vehicle-borne IED outside the Jalalabad city Department of Refugees and Returnees compound on July 31, 2018, followed by gunfire and hand grenades inside the compound.
Sources: UNAMA Midyear 2017 Protection Report, Human Rights Watch No Safe Place, UNAMA October 2018 IED Special Report
Timeline
On May 31, 2017, a truck bomb detonated in central Kabul during rush hour. UNAMA described the incident as the deadliest single attack it had documented since 2001 and reported 583 civilian casualties. Afghan intelligence blamed the Taliban Haqqani Network, while the Taliban denied responsibility.
On January 27, 2018, the Taliban claimed an ambulance bomb attack in central Kabul. Human Rights Watch described the ambulance as rigged with explosives and reported more than 103 people killed and more than 200 injured, most of them civilians.
On July 31, 2018, UNAMA recorded a suicide vehicle-borne IED outside the Jalalabad city Department of Refugees and Returnees compound during a meeting attended by NGO and UN staff. UNAMA attributed the claim of responsibility to Daesh/ISKP and reported 15 civilians killed and 28 injured.
Sources: UNAMA Midyear 2017 Protection Report, Human Rights Watch No Safe Place, UNAMA October 2018 IED Special Report
Operational role
The documented Afghanistan role was insurgent and jihadist use of explosive-rigged vehicles for urban mass-casualty attacks, compound attacks, and attacks near government or internationally connected sites. The sources support use by anti-government armed groups, including Taliban-linked or Taliban-claimed cases and Daesh/ISKP-claimed cases, rather than use by Afghan government, NATO, or United States forces.
The sources also separate vehicle-borne IED use from general IED possession or non-vehicle roadside bombs. UNAMA's glossary defines suicide vehicle-borne IEDs as vehicles rigged with explosives and detonated by someone inside the vehicle, while HRW's Kabul ambulance case and UNAMA's Jalalabad example identify specific vehicle-delivered attacks in the Afghanistan conflict.
Sources: Human Rights Watch No Safe Place, UNAMA October 2018 IED Special Report, UNAMA 2018 Annual Protection Report
