Posted by Animesh Roul on November 10, 2009. Filed under Pakistan, Terrorism.

Pakistan Taliban and their affiliates (e.g. Jaish-e- Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Fidayeen-e-Islam) have stepped up attacks targeting urban centers in recent weeks in retaliation for the ongoing army offensive in Waziristan, along the Afghan border. On November 10, Taliban terrorists have triggered a car bomb outside a crowded market in Charsadda city located near Peshawar, in northwest Pakistan. The blast killed nearly 25 people and scores of people sustained injuries. The attack was the latest in a string of suicide strikes in Pakistan that have killed nearly 350 people over the past seven weeks. The bombing was the third attack in as many days in and around Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. A day before, three people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Peshawar. The bomber reportedly detonated his explosives when the auto-rickshaw he was travelling stopped by security personnel at a check post.  On November 8, again a car borne suicide attack took place in Peshawar that killed 14 people including a local anti-Taliban mayor Abdul Malik. 

I just published one in depth analysis on this grave issue (titled “Terrorism’s Trojan Horse: Vehicle-Borne Suicide Attacks Give Taliban Upper Hand in Pakistan,” Terrorism Monitor, Vol 7 (33) November 6, 2009) depicting the rising Talban violence in Pakistan with increasing use of car and truck bombs against both military and civilian targets.

Here is an excerpt:

Suicide terrorism has taken a lethal turn in Pakistan recently with the widespread use of vehicle bombs, known to security services as Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED). These suicide VBIED attacks have targeted both civilian and military establishments and the frequency of these attacks fully demonstrates a tactical advance on past terrorist strikes in Pakistan.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, car, truck or even bicycle bombs have been used indiscriminately against civilian and Coalition targets. For the Taliban and their affiliates, they have lately proven a very effective weapon in Pakistan. After numerous mass casualty VBIED attacks across the country in October, Taliban terrorists again struck in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in early November. In their latest strike, a bike-borne suicide bomber triggered a blast near a bank where people gathered to collect their salaries, located close to Rawalpindi’s four-star Shalimar Hotel, killing 35 people and damaging many buildings and vehicles nearby.

Suicidal VBIED attacks have become a weapon of choice for Taliban terrorists in Pakistan due to the availability of dedicated and relatively young would-be martyrs and large numbers of easily hijacked vehicles such as SUVs, cars, trucks and bikes. The advantage provided by this tactic is the guided movement of a large amount of explosives by the bomber himself. Typically wearing a loaded suicide vest, the bomber can swiftly reach the intended target. Larger vehicles can carry a large quantity of explosives, which makes VBIEDs an effective terrorist weapon in causing maximum fatalities and structural damage.

The Taliban’s renewed suicide campaign started on October 9 with an attack at the crowded Soekarno Square in Peshawar’s Khyber Market, where over 49 people including seven children were killed and a hundred others injured. Many of those killed in the attacks were patients and their visiting relatives at the Lady Reading Hospital, the biggest government run hospital in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Three days later, a similar VBIED attack targeted a military convoy passing through the bustling Alpuri market in Shangla district, a Taliban stronghold near the restive Swat valley. At least 41 persons including six soldiers were killed and over 40 others injured. 

Not all attempts at vehicle-borne suicide attacks have been successfully executed by terrorists in Pakistan, partly because of enhanced security measures.  Alerted to potential attacks by prior intelligence inputs, threefold security cordons are put in place in sensitive areas that prevent terrorists from getting near the intended targets. Many attempts have been foiled by security forces beforehand; for example, on October 25 two explosives-laden vehicles were destroyed by security forces at Fort Salop in the Khyber Agency before they could be used in attacks.

Read full text article with description of other mass fatality terrorist events involving VBIEDshere.