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Bomb Disposal

Volume 496: debated on Monday 20 July 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times the Army Bomb Disposal Squad has been deployed against (a) hoax and (b) real devices in each month of the last two years. (287646)

The following table shows the number of times that the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel (EOD) have been called out in respect of both hoax and real devices in each month over the last two years.

IED1/Incendiary2/Find3 call outs

Hoax4/False5 call outs

Total call outs

2007

July

16

10

26

August

11

1

12

September

26

5

31

October

23

6

29

November

15

2

17

December

17

5

22

2008

January

6

15

21

February

2

16

18

March

7

16

23

April

20

4

24

May

12

17

29

June

16

7

23

July

17

6

23

August

12

14

26

September

19

11

30

October

21

14

35

November

30

25

55

December

19

7

26

2009

January

19

4

23

February

18

9

27

March

28

51

79

April

22

29

51

May

24

11

35

June

22

17

39

1 IED—The report of EOD action which results in the total neutralisation, disruption or dismantling of an Improvised Explosive Device. 2 Incendiary—The report of the functioning of an IED which is primarily designed to cause damage by burning. 3 Find—The report of explosives or bomb-making components, weapons, ammunition or tools found by the police or security forces and confirmed by the EOD operator after full investigation. 4 Hoax—The report of an incident where, after full investigation, an object is discovered to be a simulated IED. 5 False—A report made in good faith of an object believed to be an IED which, upon full investigation, proves to be innocuous.