al-Qaeda - Hugo Kaaman

The Mysterious Case of the “Eastern Ghouta” Car Bomb

On February 27, 2018, a small youtube channel posted a video titled "Terrorists' bomb-car in Damascus". The video showed an up-armoured SVBIED, but the description of the video went on to claim that the Syrian Arab Army had captured a Faylaq al-Rahman car bomb in Damascus, more specifically in the…

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June 23, 2019

al-Qaeda / Aleppo / Car bombs / Deir ez-Zor / Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) / HMMWV (Humvee) / Iraq / Iraqi forces / IS (Islamic State) / Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN) / Main Battle Tank (MBT) / Mosul / Ninawa / Raqqah / SVBIED / Syria / T-55 / T-62 / T-72 / Tanks / VBIED

Last Resort – When Main Battle Tanks are Used as SVBIEDs

The Islamic State's (IS) extensive acquisition of military armoured vehicles from government forces in both Syria and Iraq has been a well-documented phenomenon. Especially during their initial massive expansion in the 2013-14 period, but also sporadically over the years. These seized main battle tanks (MBTs) and armoured personnel carriers (APCs)…

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March 18, 2019

al-Qaeda / Anbar province / AQI (al-Qaeda in Iraq) / Car bombs / Covert VBIED / Deir ez-Zor / Iraq / Iraqi forces / IS (Islamic State) / ISI (Islamic State of Iraq) / Ninawa / Salahuddin / SUV / SVBIED / Syria / Tal Afar / VBIED

Bouquet of Death: Why ISIS Fighters Bring Flowers to Suicide Bombings

Recently I wrote a short article for Popular Front that was just released, about why IS fighters sometimes mount flowers to their SVBIEDs. The article can be read here on the new Popular Front website.

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March 14, 2019

al-Qaeda / Aleppo / Anbar province / Barqah province / bulldozer / Car bombs / Deir ez-Zor / Drones / Front-end loader / Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) / Iraq / Iraqi forces / IS (Islamic State) / Islamic State in Libya / Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN) / Libya / Mosul / Raqqah / RC-VBIED / Remote controlled / Salahuddin / SVBIED / Syria / Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) / VBIED

SVBIEDs & The Offensive Role of Heavy Construction Equipment

In historical and contemporary wars alike, the establishment of qualitative defensive fortifications has been one of the, if not the most important aspect of preparing for the possibility of an armed attack by an opposing force. These defensive fortifications typically take the shape of trenches and earth berms either surrounding…

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February 13, 2019

al-Qaeda / AQI (al-Qaeda in Iraq) / Baghdad / Camouflaged SVBIED / Car bombs / Covert VBIED / Iraq / Iraqi forces / IS (Islamic State) / ISI (Islamic State of Iraq) / Mosul / Ninawa / Raqqah / SVBIED / VBIED

Islamic State of Iraq – A Snapshot of SVBIED Design & Use

The group we know today as the ‘Islamic State’ only became known as such after a series of successive transformations and name changes over the course of more than a decade. One of its predecessor groups was the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). Proclaimed in mid-October 2006[1] after the death…

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January 11, 2019