Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Bicycle bomb

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A bicycle bomb (or bike bomb) is an improvised explosive device that is placed on a bicycle.

Contents

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. 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.
  • 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.
  • In Kabul on 10 October 2006, a bicycle bomb exploded near a police bus, wounding 11 police officers and civilians.

    • 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.

    • 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.
  • 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

    Bicycle bomb Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA