Homemade explosives used more often in attacks on homes

The use of homemade explosives in attacks on homes, among other things, is growing. This is evident from figures from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). In 2019, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service was deployed six times because of (attempted) attacks with such explosives, this was already seventeen times this year.

The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service falls under the Ministry of Defense and is only called in for the most serious cases. The number of attacks with explosives is higher. It is impossible to say exactly how high, because the police do not register this nationally.

However, the NFI also sees that there is an increase. In 2020, the police and the Public Prosecution Service brought 31 cases of bombs manufactured by criminals themselves to the NFI: an almost threefold increase compared to a year earlier. In 2021, there were also 31 cases. This year the counter is already at 27, of which nine explosives were detonated last month.

From Den Bosch to Houses

This summer, attacks are particularly in vogue. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, for example, a house in a residential area on the outskirts of Den Bosch was damaged by an explosion. The mayor of Den Bosch then closed the house and imposed a restraining order on the holidaying resident Grada K. and her partner Klaas Otto – the convicted founder of motorcycle club No Surrender. The previous Wednesday, the facade of a house in the neighborhood with the same house number was partly destroyed by an explosion. The police then spoke of a suspected mistaken attack.

Read more about last weekend: Another explosion at home in Den Bosch

Last Friday, a house in the Utrecht village of Hoef en Haag was bombed, the second house in the village in a month. Homes were also attacked with explosives in Tienhoeven, Huizen and Rotterdam last month.

Threat Instrument

Criminologist Jasper van der Kemp, affiliated with the VU University in Amsterdam, states that the explosives mainly come from organized crime and are often used as a threat instrument. He speaks of a dangerous development.

“Threats in the criminal circuit are not new, but now it is more public and people are being affected at home. That makes the risks for innocent bystanders correspondingly greater.”

Van der Kemp suspects that to a certain extent there is copycat behavior because criminals see that an attack on a home has a disruptive effect. In the event of attacks on the homes of people from the criminal circuit – such as recently in Den Bosch – mayors often close the house for a certain period of time and the residents are out on the street. “If a drug achieves such an effect, it can become more attractive for others to use it as well.”

At the same time, the criminologist points out that the phenomenon is difficult to interpret. For example, self-manufactured explosives may be used as a replacement for other means of violence.

Figures from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service about (attempted) attacks on homes and cars indeed seem to indicate this. The use of hand grenades has fallen sharply: from 47 times in 2019 to 4 times in 2022. This indicates that homemade explosives have replaced hand grenades.