Animal-borne bomb attacks
Encyclopedia
Animal-borne bomb attacks are the use of animals as delivery systems for explosives. The explosives are strapped to a pack animal such as a horse, mule or donkey and set off in a crowd.
to a donkey. The gate guard noticed something suspicious when a group of men let the donkey go a short way from the camp and then hurried off. The donkey was stopped with a rifle shot. One soldier set fire to the hay with a flare provoking a "considerable explosion"
, injuring one man and causing some damage.
In 2004 a donkey in Ramadi
was loaded with explosives and set off towards a US-run checkpoint. It exploded before it was able to injure or kill anyone but itself. The incident, along with a number of similar incidents involving dogs, fueled fears of terrorist practices of using living animals as weapons, a change from an older practice of using the bodies of dead animals to hold explosives. The use of improvised explosive devices concealed in animal's carcasses was also a common practice among the Iraqi Insurgency
.
of 1920, one of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings
, anarchists used a bomb carried by horse-drawn cart.
the U.S.
investigated the use of "bat bomb
s", or bat
s carrying small incendiary bombs,The Bat Bombers, C. V. Glines, Journal of the Airforce Association, October 1990, Vol. 73, No. 10 (accessed November 17 2006). During the same war Project Pigeon
(later Project Orcon, for "organic control") was American
behaviorist B. F. Skinner
's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile. At the same time the Soviet Union
developed the "anti-tank dog
" for use against German tank
s. Other attempts have included the attempt by Iran
to develop kamikaze dolphins, intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.
Afghanistan
In 2009, the Taliban strapped an improvised explosive deviceImprovised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
to a donkey. The gate guard noticed something suspicious when a group of men let the donkey go a short way from the camp and then hurried off. The donkey was stopped with a rifle shot. One soldier set fire to the hay with a flare provoking a "considerable explosion"
Iraq
On 21 November 2003, eight rockets were fired from donkey carts at the Iraqi oil ministry and two hotels in downtown BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, injuring one man and causing some damage.
In 2004 a donkey in Ramadi
Ramadi
Ramadi is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad. It is the capital of Al Anbar Governorate.-History:Ramadi is located in a fertile, irrigated, alluvial plain.The Ottoman Empire founded Ramadi in 1869...
was loaded with explosives and set off towards a US-run checkpoint. It exploded before it was able to injure or kill anyone but itself. The incident, along with a number of similar incidents involving dogs, fueled fears of terrorist practices of using living animals as weapons, a change from an older practice of using the bodies of dead animals to hold explosives. The use of improvised explosive devices concealed in animal's carcasses was also a common practice among the Iraqi Insurgency
Iraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
.
Lebanon
Malia Sufangi, a young Lebanese woman, was caught in the Security Zone in November 1985 with an explosive device mounted on a donkey with which she had failed to carry out an attack. She claimed that she had been recruited and dispatched by Syrian Brigadier-General Ghazi Kna'an who supplied the explosives and instructions on how the attack was to be carried out from his headquarters in the town of Anjer in the Bekaa Valley.United States
In the Wall Street bombingWall Street bombing
The Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and seriously injured 143...
of 1920, one of the 1919 United States anarchist bombings
1919 United States anarchist bombings
The 1919 United States anarchist bombings were a series of bombings and attempted bombings carried out by anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani from April through June 1919...
, anarchists used a bomb carried by horse-drawn cart.
West Bank and Gaza Strip
- June 25, 1995 - At approximately 11 a.m., a PalestinianPalestinian peopleThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
rode a booby-trapped donkey cart to an Israeli army base west of Khan YunisKhan YunisKhan Yunis - often spelt Khan Younis or Khan Yunnis - is a city and adjacent refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the city, its refugee camp, and its immediate surroundings had a total population of 180,000 in 2006...
in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
and detonated it. The Palestinian and the donkey were killed, but no soldiers were wounded. HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
claimed responsibility for the attack. Three soldiers were treated for minor shock. - June 17, 2001 - A Palestinian man rode a bomb-laden donkey cart up to an Israeli position in the southern Gaza Strip and set off a small explosion. Israeli soldiers destroyed the cart, and no soldiers were wounded. The Palestinian man was captured by the soldiers.
- January 26, 2003 - Palestinian fighters strapped a bomb to a donkey and then exploded it remotely on the road between Jerusalem and Gush EtzionGush EtzionGush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
. No humans were injured in the attack. PETAPetaPeta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
director Ingrid NewkirkIngrid NewkirkIngrid Newkirk is a British-born animal rights activist and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , the world's largest animal rights organization...
wrote to PLO Chairman Yasser ArafatYasser ArafatMohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
asking him to keep animals out of the conflict. PETA was criticized for not objecting to killing of humans in the context. - June 8, 2009 - Palestinian gunmen approached the Karni crossingKarni crossingThe Karni Crossing is a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords, in order to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods...
between the Gaza Strip and Israel with several trucks and at least five horseHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s loaded with explosive devices and mines. The gunmen fired on IDF troops who observed them, and at least four gunmen were killed in the ensuing battle. A previously unknown organization called "the army of Allah's supporters" claimed responsibility for the foiled attack. The IDF estimated that the gunmen had planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier. - May 25 2010 - A small SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n-backed militant group in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
blew up a donkey cart laden with explosives close to the border with Israel. According to a spokesman for the group, more than 200 kilograms of dynamite were heaped on the animal-drawn cart. The explosives were detonated several dozen meters from the border fence with Israel. The animal was killed in the blast but no human injuries or damage were reported.
Military
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
investigated the use of "bat bomb
Bat bomb
Bat bombs were bomb-shaped casings with numerous compartments, each containing a Mexican Free-tailed Bat with a small timed incendiary bomb attached. Dropped from a bomber at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats which would then roost in eaves and...
s", or bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s carrying small incendiary bombs,The Bat Bombers, C. V. Glines, Journal of the Airforce Association, October 1990, Vol. 73, No. 10 (accessed November 17 2006). During the same war Project Pigeon
Project Pigeon
During World War II, Project Pigeon was American behaviorist B. F. Skinner's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile....
(later Project Orcon, for "organic control") was American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
behaviorist B. F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, baseball enthusiast, social philosopher and poet...
's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile. At the same time the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
developed the "anti-tank dog
Anti-tank dog
Anti-tank dogs were dogs taught to carry explosives to tanks, armored vehicles and other military targets. They were intensively trained by the Soviet and Russian military forces between 1930 and 1996 and used in 1941–1942 against German tanks in World War II...
" for use against German tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s. Other attempts have included the attempt by Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to develop kamikaze dolphins, intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.