Explosives used in intimidation schemes in 21% of Dutch cities last year

Explosives were detonated in front of buildings last year in over 21 percent of the 342 Dutch municipalities, according to a tally by ANP based on police bulletins and the newswire's own reporting. During the second half of 2023, the wave of explosions in the Netherlands was no longer limited to large cities in the Randstad. From July through the end of the year, homes and businesses especially in Noord-Brabant and Limburg, were targeted more frequently.

An explosive went off at least 378 times in total last year, in cases often meant to either intimidate a resident or to seek revenge. An explosion was triggered in front of a home 75 percent of the time, and occupied commercial properties including shops and restaurants were struck 13 percent of the time.

An explosion happened at least once in 73 different municipalities, and there was at least one explosion in all provinces last year. Rotterdam topped the list with at least 90 explosions, followed by Amsterdam (89) and The Hague (23). The numbers declined further, with Vlaardingen, Schiedam, Almere and Dordrecht following The Hague. Outside the Randstad, there were several incidents last year in the municipalities of Breda (5), Venlo (4) and Tilburg (3).

The number of explosions in the Netherlands has increased almost every month since the beginning of last year. At least 13 incidents took place in January, and 60 in December. The number of explosions was highest in the last month of the year. More than half of the reported explosions occurred between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., but there were also incidents in broad daylight. Ten explosions were counted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

This ANP tally only included incidents involving explosives that were actually detonated, because these have the greatest impact on neighborhoods and communities. In each incident, the municipality, street name, date, and type of location where the explosion happened were all recorded. These are also explosions which were reported to police, and which were made publicly known. The real total may rise even higher.

The police registered 622 incidents involving explosives from January through the end of November. This count also includes the attempted use of explosives, robberies where ATMs were blown up, and the discovery of undetonated explosives.

Explosions per province in 2023 based on provisional data