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Car bomb

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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