A
car bomb is a
bomb that is placed in a
car or
truck and is intended to be exploded while there. This kind of bomb is a favorite instrument of
terrorists and
assassins because the car bomb acts as its own delivery mechanism and can carry a large amount of
explosives without attracting suspicion.
Truck bombs are also popular -- trucks can crash through barriers more easily and can hold a great deal more explosives.
Motorcycle and even
bicycle bombs have also been used.
Terrorists typically employ one or more suicide bombers to ram the car into a building and simultaneously detonate it. In assassination attempts, it is more common for the bomb to be affixed to the underside of the car and then detonated by remote control, by the car's motion, or other means. The bomb explodes as the target approaches or starts the vehicle or, more commonly, after starting into motion and when the target is more likely to be inside. For this reason, guards often check the underside of vehicles with a long mirror mounted on a pole.
Mass car bombings (by date)
When |
Where |
Deaths |
Type |
May 12, 2003 |
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
? |
car bombs (4) |
May 12, 2003 |
Znamenskoye[?], Chechnya |
41 |
truck bomb |
February 10, 2003 |
Bogota, Colombia |
32 |
car bomb |
October 12, 2002 |
Bali, Indonesia |
209 |
car bomb |
June 5, 2002 |
Megiddo Junction[?], Israel |
17 |
car bomb |
April 7, 2002 |
Villavicencio[?], Colombia |
12 |
car bomb |
March 21, 2002 |
U.S. Embassy, Lima, Peru |
9 |
car bomb |
June 19, 2001 |
Gudermes[?], Chechnya |
? |
car bombs (3) |
March 5, 2001 |
BBC offices, London, Great Britain |
0 |
car bomb |
January 26, 2001 |
San Sebastian, Spain |
1 |
car bomb |
July 3, 2000 |
Grozny, Chechnya |
25 |
truck bomb |
August 15, 1998 |
Omagh, Northern Ireland |
29 |
car bomb |
August 7, 1998 |
U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Tanzania |
224 |
car bombs (3) |
June 25, 1996 |
Khobar Towers[?], Dhahran[?], Saudi Arabia |
19 |
truck bomb |
January 31, 1996 |
Central Bank, Colombo, Sri Lanka
| 90 |
truck bomb |
April 19, 1995 |
Federal building, Oklahoma City, United States |
168 |
truck bomb |
November 13, 1995 |
U.S military headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
5 |
car bomb |
July 18, 1994 |
Jewish center, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
46 |
car bomb |
February 26, 1993 |
World Trade Center, New York City, United States |
6 |
truck bomb |
April 14, 1988 |
USO[?] Club, Naples, Italy |
1 |
car bomb |
March 8, 1985 |
Beirut, Lebanon |
45 |
car bomb |
September 20, 1984 |
U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon |
20 |
car bomb |
December 12, 1983 |
U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait City, Kuwait |
5 |
car bombs (2)? |
October 23, 1983 |
U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon |
298 |
truck bomb |
April 18, 1983 |
U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon |
17 |
car bomb |
May 17, 1974 |
Dublin and Monaghan[?], Northern Ireland |
33 |
car bombs (2) |
May 11, 1972 |
U.S. Army HQ, Frankfurt, Germany |
1 |
car bomb |
Assassinations by car bombings (by date)
When |
Where |
Target |
Type |
March 5, 2003 |
Paris, France |
Rene Chalon[?] |
ignition-based |
January 24, 2002 |
Beirut, Lebanon |
Elie Hobeika[?], Phalangist[?] militia leader |
remote |
May 20, 2001 |
Beirut, Lebanon |
Mohammed Jihad Ahmed Jibril[?], son of PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jibril[?] |
unknown |
February 22, 2000 |
Vitoria, Spain |
Fernando Buesa[?], Basque Socialist Party leader |
remote |
October 21, 1999 |
Ankara, Turkey |
Ahmet Taner Kislali[?], prominent Turkish intellectual |
tilt-based |
June 28, 1988 |
Athens, Greece |
William Nordeen[?], U.S. military attache |
remote |
September 14, 1982 |
Beirut, Lebanon |
Bashir Gemayel, Phalangist[?] "president" (and 25 others) |
timer |
March 30, 1979 |
Palace of Westminster, Great Britain |
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave |
tilt-based |
September 21, 1976 |
Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Orlando Letelier, Chilean exile |
unknown |
June 2, 1976 |
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
Don Bolles[?], investigative reporter |
remote (dynamite) |
December 4, 1928 |
Chicago, U.S. |
"Dapper" Danny Hogan, mobster |
unknown |
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