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