VBIED - Hugo Kaaman

Mining Haul Trucks – The Largest SVBIEDs In The World

The SVBIEDs used by the Islamic State (IS) throughout the years have come in all different sizes. Everything from sedans, to pick-up trucks, heavy transport trucks, heavy construction equipment, and military armoured vehicles have been converted into rolling bombs. While large shell vehicles have been relatively common, there's one rare…

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March 25, 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

Car bombs / Deir ez-Zor / Iraq / IS (Islamic State) / Mosul / SVBIED / Syria / Tal Afar / VBIED

Islamic State & The Cross-Provincial Use of SVBIEDs

After the Islamic State had ascended to prominence in the period of 2013-14, their state-building venture really took off. The territories in Syria and Iraq under their control were divided into more than a dozen provinces (wilayat), each supervised by its own centrally appointed governor (wali). In turn, each province…

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March 13, 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