Bicycle bomb
A bicycle bomb (or bike bomb) is an improvised explosive device that is placed on a bicycle.
History
The first two wheel bomb would be the horse-drawn vehicle used for the Wall Street bombing in 1920 in New York City. This idea developed into the bicycle bomb and car bomb.
United Kingdom
- The IRA used bicycle bombs twice in Northern Ireland and once at a British military facility in Germany.[1]
- On 25 August 1939 an IRA bicycle bomb exploded in Coventry, killing five people. The bomb had been left in the basket of a bicycle.[2]
- In 1979 a bomb exploded in package carried in a mailbag on a postman's bicycle in Streatley, Berkshire.
- 13 August 1994 Two bombs were planted in bags placed on bicycles in Brighton and Bognor Regis. The Bognor one detonated damaging shops but no casualties, the Brighton one was defused.[3]
- No information is available on the bomb detonated at a British military installation in Germany.
- On 8 August 1976, a member of the Parachute Regiment, Private Robert (Bob) Borucki, was killed by the explosion of a bomb planted inside a basket of a bicycle at Crossmaglen. Borucki is buried in the cemetery in the village of Wales, near Rotherham. A year later, a sangar named after the soldier was built on the spot.[4] The facility was removed in the early 2000s as part of the Belfast Agreement.
Sri Lanka
- On 30 August 2001 a time bomb tied to a bicycle exploded in the coastal town Kalmunai, killing two policemen and a bystander.
Pakistan
- A bicycle bomb exploded in a suburb of Quetta on 24 May 2004, wounding 15 police and militiamen traveling in a police truck.
Afghanistan
- In Kandahar in the main square at least 15 people were wounded by a bicycle bomb.[5]
- In February 2006 in the city of Kunduz as a result of a bicycle bomb two Afghans were killed and a German Bundeswehr soldier (from ISAF) was injured.[6]
- In Kabul on 10 October 2006, a bicycle bomb exploded near a police bus, wounding 11 police officers and civilians.[7]
Germany
- In 1989, Alfred Herrhausen, chairman of Deutsche Bank, was killed by a sophisticated bomb hidden in a parked bicycle.
Iraq
- In the Iraqi city of Baqubah according to the police at least 25 people were killed in a bicycle bombing on 26 June 2006.
- August 2009, a bicycle bomb explodes near a restaurant in Baghdad killing two people.
India
- In the Indian city of Jaipur a series of seven bomb blasts took place within a span of twelve minutes on 13 May 2008, killing at least 90 people and injuring hundreds more.
- In Ahmedabad, largest city of the state of Gujarat, 45 were killed in a series of 17 blasts which took place within 1 hour on the evening of July 28, 2008.
- Twin bomb blasts at Dilsukhnagar ( Hyderabad )on Feb 21st,2013, 18 Killed and 40 Injured.
Russia
- On August 21, 2009, in Grozny, Chechnya, alleged suicide bombers approached police checkpoints on bicycles before blowing themselves up, killing and wounding several people.[8]
Jugoslavia Apocryphal - requires confirmation
- Sarajevo 1948, bomb in frame of bike exploded sending saddle out for seat tube for several hundred feet, bike reported otherwise still rideable.
Palestine
- Bikes were placed in market and other areas, in positions where they would be moved (obstruction/nuisance) triggering the device. In the event of finding a suspect bike with luggage, the best action is to avoid moving it.
In popular culture
- The 1955 novel The Quiet American by Graham Greene describes the use of bicycle bombs in Saigon.
- The movie "Charlie Wilson's War" mentions the need for bicycle bombs in the Afghanistan resistance of the USSR.
- There is a band called This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, and bicycles bearing the band's stickers have caused false evacuations at airports and universities.
References
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo. The bicycle was purchased on HP from Halfords and modified in a terraced house in Coventry. The bomb was a liquid explosive, in a bottle concealed in a book carried on the bicycle. The remains of the bicycle are in the Coventry Police's "Black Museum". Schrapnel from the blast is reported to have travelled over 2 miles /countdown_390828_mon_01.shtml
- ↑ IRA confirms it planted seaside bicycle bombs: Police seek tourist photos and information from hire firms
- ↑ Castles of the North, by Jonathan Olley (2003)
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Police die in Grozny explosions. The BBC News. 21 August 2009
External links
- Afghan bicycle bomb injures 15 - CNN - December 6 2003
- Bicycle Bomb Kills Locals, Injures German Soldier - Deutsche Welle - February 22 2006
- Bicycle bomb near police bus injures 11 in Kabul - CBC News - October 10 2006
- Bicycle bombs and the fourth policeman John Adams explores the lack of evidence for existence of pipe bombs disguised as bicycles.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.