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.

Defending against a car bomb involved keeping cars at a distance from buildings and hardening buildings to withstand an explosion.

Mass car bombings (by date)

When	Where	Deaths	Type
December 27, 2003	Coalition targets, Karbala, Iraq	19	car bombs (4)
December 25, 2003	Assassination attempt, Islamabad, Pakistan	14	truck bombs
December 14, 2003	Police station, Khaldiyah, Iraq	20	car bomb
November 20, 2003	British targets, Istanbul, Turkey	32	truck bombs
November 15, 2003	Two synagogues, Istanbul, Turkey	29	truck bombs
November 12, 2003	Italian Military HQ in Nasiriyah, Iraq	33	truck bomb
November 8, 2003	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	18	truck bomb
October 27, 2003	Baghdad, Iraq	35	car bombs (4)
August 29, 2003	Mosque, Najaf, Iraq	85	car bomb
August 25, 2003	Mumbai, India	52	car bombs (2)
August 19, 2003	United Nations Headquarters, Baghdad, Iraq	22	truck bomb
August 7, 2003	Jordanian Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq	19	car bomb
August 5, 2003	Marriot Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia	12	car bomb
August 1, 2003	Mozdok, Russia (near Chechnya)	50	truck bomb
May 12, 2003	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	35	car bombs (4)
May 12, 2003	Znamenskoye, Chechnya	59	truck bomb
February 10, 2003	Bogota, Colombia	32	car bomb
December 27, 2002	Government Buildings, Grozny, Chechnya	72	truck bombs
November 28, 2002	Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya	13	car bomb
October 21, 2002	Bus near Hadera, Israel	14	car bomb
October 12, 2002	Bali, Indonesia	202	car bomb
September 5, 2002	Kabul, Afghanistan	30	car bomb
June 14, 2002	US Consulate, Karachi, Pakistan	12	truck bomb
June 5, 2002	Megiddo Junction, Israel	17	car bomb
May 8, 2002	Bus, Karachi, Pakistan	14	car bomb
April 11, 2002	Synagogue, Djerba, Tunisia	21	truck bomb
April 7, 2002	Villavicencio, Colombia	12	car bomb
March 21, 2002	U.S. Embassy, Lima, Peru	9	car bomb
October 1, 2001	Parliament Building, Srinagar, Kashmir	38	car bomb
June 19, 2001	Gudermes, Chechnya	12	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 (2)
March 5, 1998	Street, Colombo, Sri Lanka	36	mini-bus bomb
October 15, 1997	World Trade Center, Colombo, Sri Lanka	18	truck bomb
June 25, 1996	Khobar Towers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia	19	truck bomb
January 31, 1996	Central Bank, Colombo, Sri Lanka	90	truck bomb
November 19, 1995	Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan	15	truck bomb
November 13, 1995	U.S military headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	5	car bomb
April 19, 1995	Federal building, Oklahoma City, United States	168	truck bomb
February 27, 1995	Zakho, Iraq	76	car bomb
January 30, 1995	Market, Algiers, Algeria	42	car bomb
July 18, 1994	Jewish center, Buenos Aires, Argentina	86	car bomb
April 6, 1994	Bus, Afula, Israel (First suicide bombing in Israel)	8	car bomb
March 12, 1993	Mumbai, India	257	car bombs
February 26, 1993	World Trade Center, New York City, United States	6	truck bomb
March 17, 1992	Israeli Embassy, Buenos Aires, Argentina	29	car bomb
May 12, 1990	Bogota and Cali, Colombia	39	car bombs (3)
April 14, 1988	USO Club, Naples, Italy	1	car bomb
July 5, 1987	Army Camp, Jaffna, Sri Lanka	40	truck bomb
August 19, 1986	Public square, Tehran, Iran	20	car bomb
March 8, 1985	Beirut, Lebanon	80	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)?
November 4, 1983	Israeli Army Post in Tyre, Lebanon	60	truck bomb
October 23, 1983	French Paratroop barracks in Beirut, Lebanon	58	truck bomb
October 23, 1983	U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon	241	truck bomb
May 20, 1983	Air Force Base in Pretoria, South Africa	20	car bomb
April 18, 1983	U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon	63	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
March 11, 1948	Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, Palestine	11	car bomb

Assassinations by car bombings (by date)

When	Where	Target	Type
November 20, 2003	Istanbul, Turkey	Roger Short, British consul general	Suicide truck bomb
August 29, 2003	Najaf, Iraq	Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim , Iraqi cleric (with 84 others)	remote
August 19, 2003	Baghdad, Iraq	S�rgio Vieira de Mello, UN special representative (with 21 others)	Suicide truck bomb
March 5, 2003	Paris, France	Rene Chalon	ignition-based
May 20, 2002	Beirut, Lebanon	Mohammed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, son of PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jibril	unknown
January 24, 2002	Beirut, Lebanon	Elie Hobeika, Phalangist militia leader	remote
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
July 30, 1990	London, England	Ian Gow, Conservative MP	dynamite
May 16, 1989	Beirut, Lebanon	Hassan Khaled, Lebanese spiritual leader (with 21 others)	remote
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)
September 30, 1974	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Carlos Prats, Former Chilean army commander
December 4, 1928	Chicago, U.S	"Dapper" Danny Hogan, mobster	unknown