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. The pack animal may be set off in a crowd.
In 2009, Taliban insurgents strapped an improvised explosive device to a donkey and let the donkey loose a short way from a camp of the British Armed Forces in Helmand Province.[1][2]
In April 2013, in Kabul, a bomb attached to a donkey blew up in front of a police security post, killing a policeman and wounding three civilians. A government spokesman claimed insurgents were challenging the competence of the Afghan government prior to the 2014 withdrawal of the U.S. military.[3]
Iraq
On 21 November 2003, eight rockets were fired from donkey carts at the Iraqi oil ministry and two hotels in downtown Baghdad, injuring one man and causing some damage.[4] 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. 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.[5] The use of improvised explosive devices concealed in animal's carcasses was also a common practice among the Iraqi Insurgency.[6]
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.[7] She claimed that she had been recruited and dispatched by Syrian Brigadier-General Ghazi Kanaan 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.[7]
United States
In 1862, during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War a Confederate force approached the ford at Valverde, six miles north of Fort Craig, hoping to cut Union communications between the fort and their headquarters in Santa Fe. About midnight, Union Captain James Craydon tried to blow up a few rebel picket posts by sending mules loaded with barrels of fused gunpowder into the Confederate lines, but the faithful old army mules insisted on wandering back toward the Union camp before blowing to bits. Although the only casualties were two mules, the explosions stampeded a herd of Confederate beef cattle and horses into the Union's lines, so depriving the Confederate troops of some much-needed provisions and horses.[8]
June 25, 1995 – At approximately 11 a.m., a Palestinian rode a booby-trapped donkey cart to an Israeli army base west of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip and detonated it. The Palestinian and the donkey were killed, but no soldiers were wounded. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Three soldiers were treated for minor shock.[9]
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.[10]
January 26, 2003 – Palestinian fighters strapped a bomb to a donkey and then exploded it remotely on the road between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. No humans were injured in the attack. PETA director Ingrid Newkirk wrote to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat asking him to keep animals out of the conflict. PETA was criticized for not objecting to killing of humans in the context.[11][12]
June 8, 2009 – Palestinian gunmen approached the Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel with several trucks and at least five horses 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" (Jund Ansar Allah) claimed responsibility for the foiled attack. The IDF estimated that the gunmen had planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier.[13][14]
May 25, 2010 – A small Syrian-backed militant group in the Gaza Strip 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.[15][16]
July 19, 2014 – Hamas militants attempted to attack Israeli troops in Gaza with a bomb-laden donkey. IDF forces operating in the Rafah area near the Gaza-Egypt border located the donkey suspiciously approaching their position and were forced to open fire at it, causing the explosives to detonate.[17]
Military
During World War II the U.S. investigated the use of "bat bombs", or bats carrying small incendiary bombs.[18] 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. The project was barely funded and was cancelled on the 8th of October 1944.[19][20] They had also used incendiary bat bombs that were largely ineffective. At the same time the Soviet Union developed the "anti-tank dog" for use against German tanks.[21] The anti-tank dog project mostly failed, as the dogs would be spooked by the noises and gunfire, as well as running under Russian tanks due to the dogs being trained with Diesel Tanks, as opposed to the German tanks, which ran on petrol. The Imperial Japanese Army had used dogs and other animals strapped with bombs to run into American lines during Iwo Jima and Okinawa. More recently, Iran purchased several dolphins, some of which were former Soviet military dolphins, along with other sea mammals and birds, in what some have alleged to be an attempt by Iran to develop kamikazedolphins, intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.[22] However, the animals are today on display at the Kish Dolphin Park, on Iran's resort island of Kish in the Persian Gulf. During the Cold War, the Soviet Navy trained dolphins to attach underwater explosives and beacons to ships and submarines at Object 825 GTS at Balaklava, Crimea.[23]
^"Gaza terrorists attempt to attack IDF forces with explosives-laden donkey".
^The Bat Bombers 2006-12-06 at the Wayback Machine, C. V. Glines, Journal of the Airforce Association, October 1990, Vol. 73, No. 10 (accessed November 17, 2006)
^Skinner, B. F. (1960). Pigeons in a pelican. American Psychologist, 15, 28–37. Reprinted in: Skinner, B. F. (1972). Cumulative record (3rd ed.). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, pp. 574–591.
^Described throughout Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
^Dog Anti-Tank Mine, Soviet-Empire.com (accessed November 17, 2006)
^Iran buys kamikaze dolphins, BBC News, Wednesday, 8 March 2000, 16:45 GMT
^Ryan (March 15, 2015). . History in Orbit website. pp. 24–6. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
Sources
Kerby, Robert L. (1995) [1958]. The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona, 1861–1862. Tucson, AZ: Westernlore Press. ISBN0-87026-055-3.
January 07, 2023
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Not to be confused with Exploding animal 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 The pack animal may be set off in a crowd Projects of bat bombs dog bombs and pigeon bombs have also been studied Contents 1 Incidents 1 1 Afghanistan 1 2 Iraq 1 3 Lebanon 1 4 United States 1 5 West Bank and Gaza Strip 2 Military 3 See also 4 References 4 1 SourcesIncidents EditAfghanistan Edit In 2009 Taliban insurgents strapped an improvised explosive device to a donkey and let the donkey loose a short way from a camp of the British Armed Forces in Helmand Province 1 2 In April 2013 in Kabul a bomb attached to a donkey blew up in front of a police security post killing a policeman and wounding three civilians A government spokesman claimed insurgents were challenging the competence of the Afghan government prior to the 2014 withdrawal of the U S military 3 Iraq Edit On 21 November 2003 eight rockets were fired from donkey carts at the Iraqi oil ministry and two hotels in downtown Baghdad injuring one man and causing some damage 4 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 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 5 The use of improvised explosive devices concealed in animal s carcasses was also a common practice among the Iraqi Insurgency 6 Lebanon Edit 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 7 She claimed that she had been recruited and dispatched by Syrian Brigadier General Ghazi Kanaan 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 7 United States Edit In 1862 during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War a Confederate force approached the ford at Valverde six miles north of Fort Craig hoping to cut Union communications between the fort and their headquarters in Santa Fe About midnight Union Captain James Craydon tried to blow up a few rebel picket posts by sending mules loaded with barrels of fused gunpowder into the Confederate lines but the faithful old army mules insisted on wandering back toward the Union camp before blowing to bits Although the only casualties were two mules the explosions stampeded a herd of Confederate beef cattle and horses into the Union s lines so depriving the Confederate troops of some much needed provisions and horses 8 In the Wall Street bombing of 1920 an incident thought to be related to the 1919 United States anarchist bombings anarchists used a bomb carried by horse drawn cart West Bank and Gaza Strip Edit June 25 1995 At approximately 11 a m a Palestinian rode a booby trapped donkey cart to an Israeli army base west of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip and detonated it The Palestinian and the donkey were killed but no soldiers were wounded Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack Three soldiers were treated for minor shock 9 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 10 January 26 2003 Palestinian fighters strapped a bomb to a donkey and then exploded it remotely on the road between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion No humans were injured in the attack PETA director Ingrid Newkirk wrote to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat asking him to keep animals out of the conflict PETA was criticized for not objecting to killing of humans in the context 11 12 June 8 2009 Palestinian gunmen approached the Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel with several trucks and at least five horses 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 Jund Ansar Allah claimed responsibility for the foiled attack The IDF estimated that the gunmen had planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier 13 14 May 25 2010 A small Syrian backed militant group in the Gaza Strip 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 15 16 July 19 2014 Hamas militants attempted to attack Israeli troops in Gaza with a bomb laden donkey IDF forces operating in the Rafah area near the Gaza Egypt border located the donkey suspiciously approaching their position and were forced to open fire at it causing the explosives to detonate 17 Military EditDuring World War II the U S investigated the use of bat bombs or bats carrying small incendiary bombs 18 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 The project was barely funded and was cancelled on the 8th of October 1944 19 20 They had also used incendiary bat bombs that were largely ineffective At the same time the Soviet Union developed the anti tank dog for use against German tanks 21 The anti tank dog project mostly failed as the dogs would be spooked by the noises and gunfire as well as running under Russian tanks due to the dogs being trained with Diesel Tanks as opposed to the German tanks which ran on petrol The Imperial Japanese Army had used dogs and other animals strapped with bombs to run into American lines during Iwo Jima and Okinawa More recently Iran purchased several dolphins some of which were former Soviet military dolphins along with other sea mammals and birds in what some have alleged to be an attempt by Iran to develop kamikaze dolphins intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships 22 However the animals are today on display at the Kish Dolphin Park on Iran s resort island of Kish in the Persian Gulf During the Cold War the Soviet Navy trained dolphins to attach underwater explosives and beacons to ships and submarines at Object 825 GTS at Balaklava Crimea 23 See also EditAnimals in war United States Navy Marine Mammal ProgramReferences Edit Lester Haines Taliban attack Brit troops with explosive donkey The Register 1 Donkey suicide bombing is latest tactic against patrols Michael Evans April 30 2009 The Times of London 2 Bomb attached to donkey kills policeman in eastern Afghanistan April 5 2013 Fox News Associated Press Rockets slam into Iraq s Oil Ministry two hotels Associated Press 21 November 2011 Dogs of war can be friend or foe Archived 2009 05 04 at the Wayback Machine August 12 2005 The Standard originally from Los Angeles Times Improvised Explosive Devices IEDs Iraq GlobalSecurity org a b 3 Syria and Terrorism Boaz Ganor 15 November 1991 JCPA Kerby 1995 pp 66 67 Suicide bomber explodes donkey cart near Khan Yunis 3 soldiers hurt Jerusalem Post 26 06 1995 Fragile Mideast cease fire endures another day CNN 17 06 2001 We re stunt queens We have to be The Guardian 24 02 2006 Mother nature part one The Guardian 22 06 2003 Militants bomb laden horses die in Gaza clash AP 08 06 2009 Gaza gunmen use booby trapped horses against IDF Ynet News 08 06 2009 Donkey bomb claims only the donkey AP 25 05 2010 http www ynetnews com articles 0 7340 L 3893975 00 html Ynet News 25 05 2010 Gaza terrorists attempt to attack IDF forces with explosives laden donkey The Bat Bombers Archived 2006 12 06 at the Wayback Machine C V Glines Journal of the Airforce Association October 1990 Vol 73 No 10 accessed November 17 2006 Skinner B F 1960 Pigeons in a pelican American Psychologist 15 28 37 Reprinted in Skinner B F 1972 Cumulative record 3rd ed New York Appleton Century Crofts pp 574 591 Described throughout Skinner B F 1979 The shaping of a behaviorist Part two of an autobiography New York Knopf Dog Anti Tank Mine Soviet Empire com accessed November 17 2006 Iran buys kamikaze dolphins BBC News Wednesday 8 March 2000 16 45 GMT Ryan March 15 2015 Take a Look Inside These Abandoned Submarines amp Bases History in Orbit website pp 24 6 Archived from the original on September 19 2018 Retrieved July 6 2018 Sources Edit Kerby Robert L 1995 1958 The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico and Arizona 1861 1862 Tucson AZ Westernlore Press ISBN 0 87026 055 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Animal borne bomb attacks amp oldid 1117124319, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
