Animal-borne Bomb Attacks
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Animal-borne bomb attacks are the use of animals as delivery systems for explosives. The explosives are strapped to a
pack animal A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is a working animal used to transport goods or materials by carrying them, usually on its back. Domestic animals of many species are used in this way, among them alpacas, Bact ...
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.


Incidents


Afghanistan

In 2009, Taliban insurgents strapped an
improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...
to a donkey and let the donkey loose a short way from a camp of the British Armed Forces in Helmand Province.
Donkey ‘suicide’ bombing is latest tactic against patrols, Michael Evans, April 30, 2009, The Times of London.
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.


Iraq

On 21 November 2003, eight rockets were fired from
donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...
carts at the Iraqi oil ministry and two hotels in downtown
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, injuring one man and causing some damage. In 2004, a donkey in
Ramadi Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...
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. The use of improvised explosive devices concealed in animal's carcasses was also a common practice among the Iraqi Insurgency.


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.
"Syria and Terrorism, Boaz Ganor, 15 November 1991, JCPA.
She claimed that she had been recruited and dispatched by Syrian Brigadier-General
Ghazi Kanaan Ghazi Kanaan (; 1942 – 12 October 2005; also known by his nickname Abu Yo'roub) was a Syrian Officer (armed forces), military officer and intelligence chief who served as Syria's interior minister from 2004 to 2005. He was also the long-tim ...
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 1862, during the New Mexico Campaign of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
a
Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
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. When it was nearly midnight, Union Captain James Craydon tried to blow up some rebel picket posts by sending
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...
s loaded with barrels of fused gunpowder into the Confederate lines; however, the mules went back toward the Union camp and detonated there. 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. In the
Wall Street bombing The Wall Street bombing was an act of terrorism on Wall Street at 12:01 pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920. The blast killed 30 people immediately, and another 10 later died of wounds that they sustained in the blast. There were 143 serio ...
of 1920, an incident thought to be related to the 1919 United States anarchist bombings,
anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...
used a bomb carried by horse-drawn cart.


Palestine (West Bank, Gaza Strip, and before the 1948 partition)

* 20 June 1939 –
Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...
bombing of a vegetable market in
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
,
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
using a boobytrapped donkey killed 78 people. * July 1939 – another Irgun donkey bombing of Haifa market, killed 21 and wounded 24. * 25 June 1995 – At approximately 11 a.m., a
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
rode a booby-trapped donkey cart to an Israeli army base west of
Khan Yunis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan Y ...
in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
and detonated it. The Palestinian and the donkey were killed, but no soldiers were wounded.
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
claimed responsibility for the attack. Three soldiers were treated for minor shock. * 17 June 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. * 26 January 2003 – Palestinian fighters strapped a bomb to a donkey and then exploded it remotely on the road between
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
and
Gush Etzion Gush Etzion (, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943 ...
. No humans were injured in the attack.
PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...
director Ingrid Newkirk wrote to
PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
Chairman
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
asking him to keep animals out of the conflict. PETA was criticized for not objecting to killing of humans in the context. * Later in 8 June 2009 – Palestinian gunmen approached the Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel with several trucks and at least five
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
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" ( Jund Ansar Allah) claimed responsibility for the foiled attack. The IDF estimated that the gunmen had planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier. * 25 May 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 Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
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. * 19 July 2014 – Hamas militants attempted to attack Israeli troops in Gaza with a bomb-laden donkey. IDF forces operating in the
Rafah Rafah ( ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Rafah Governorate. It is located south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. Due to the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza C ...
area near the Gaza-Egypt border located the donkey suspiciously approaching their position shot the animal, causing the explosives to detonate. Israeli army spokesperson Major Arye Shalicar referred to the donkey as a " human shield" he said, "They used this donkey as a human shield, or an animal shield, if you like".


Military

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
investigated the use of " bat bombs", or
bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
s carrying small
incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...
s.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 During World War II, Project Pigeon (later Project Orcon, for "organic control") was American behaviorist B. F. Skinner's attempt to develop a pigeon-controlled guided bomb. Overview The testbed was the same National Bureau of Standards-d ...
(later Project Orcon, for "organic control") was American behaviorist
B. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1948 until his retirement in ...
's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile. The project was barely funded and was cancelled on the 8th of October 1944. 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. 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 is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...
and
Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
. 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 Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
to develop ''
kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
'', intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.Iran buys kamikaze dolphins
BBC News, Wednesday, 8 March 2000, 16:45 GMT
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 Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, the
Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...
trained dolphins to attach underwater explosives and beacons to ships and submarines at Object 825 GTS at
Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...
,
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
.


See also

* Animals in war * United States Navy Marine Mammal Program


References


Sources

* {{Animal rights, state=collapsed * * Animal killing Terrorism tactics Cruelty to animals Animals by use