A car bomb is a bomb that is placed in a car or truck and is intended to be exploded while there. This kind of bomb is a favorite instrument of terrorists and assassins because the car bomb acts as its own delivery mechanism and can carry a large amount of explosives without attracting suspicion. Truck bombs are also popular -- trucks can crash through barriers more easily and can hold a great deal more explosives. Motorcycle and even bicycle bombs have also been used.

Terrorists typically employ one or more suicide bombers to ram the car into a building and simultaneously detonate it. In assassination attempts, it is more common for the bomb to be affixed to the underside of the car and then detonated by remote control, by the car's motion, or other means. The bomb explodes as the target approaches or starts the vehicle or, more commonly, after starting into motion and when the target is more likely to be inside. For this reason, guards often check the underside of vehicles with a long mirror mounted on a pole.

Defending against a car bomb involved keeping cars at a distance from buildings and hardening buildings to withstand an explosion.

Mass car bombings (by date)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When Where Deaths Type
December 27, 2003 Coalition targets, Karbala, Iraq 19 car bombs (4)
December 25, 2003 Assassination attempt, Islamabad, Pakistan 14 truck bombs
December 14, 2003 Police station, Khaldiyah, Iraq 20 car bomb
November 20, 2003 British targets, Istanbul, Turkey 32 truck bombs
November 15, 2003 Two synagogues, Istanbul, Turkey 29 truck bombs
November 12, 2003 Italian Military HQ in Nasiriyah, Iraq 33 truck bomb
November 8, 2003 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 18 truck bomb
October 27, 2003 Baghdad, Iraq 35 car bombs (4)
August 29, 2003 Mosque, Najaf, Iraq 85 car bomb
August 25, 2003 Mumbai, India 52 car bombs (2)
August 19, 2003 United Nations Headquarters, Baghdad, Iraq 22 truck bomb
August 7, 2003 Jordanian Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq 19 car bomb
August 5, 2003 Marriot Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia 12 car bomb
August 1, 2003 Mozdok, Russia (near Chechnya) 50 truck bomb
May 12, 2003 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 35 car bombs (4)
May 12, 2003 Znamenskoye, Chechnya 59 truck bomb
February 10, 2003 Bogota, Colombia 32 car bomb
December 27, 2002 Government Buildings, Grozny, Chechnya 72 truck bombs
November 28, 2002 Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya 13 car bomb
October 21, 2002 Bus near Hadera, Israel 14 car bomb
October 12, 2002 Bali, Indonesia 202 car bomb
September 5, 2002 Kabul, Afghanistan 30 car bomb
June 14, 2002 US Consulate, Karachi, Pakistan 12 truck bomb
June 5, 2002 Megiddo Junction, Israel 17 car bomb
May 8, 2002 Bus, Karachi, Pakistan 14 car bomb
April 11, 2002 Synagogue, Djerba, Tunisia 21 truck bomb
April 7, 2002 Villavicencio, Colombia 12 car bomb
March 21, 2002 U.S. Embassy, Lima, Peru 9 car bomb
October 1, 2001 Parliament Building, Srinagar, Kashmir 38 car bomb
June 19, 2001 Gudermes, Chechnya 12 car bombs (3)
March 5, 2001 BBC offices, London, Great Britain 0 car bomb
January 26, 2001 San Sebastian, Spain 1 car bomb
July 3, 2000 Grozny, Chechnya 25 truck bomb
August 15, 1998 Omagh, Northern Ireland 29 car bomb
August 7, 1998 U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Tanzania 224 car bombs (2)
March 5, 1998 Street, Colombo, Sri Lanka 36 mini-bus bomb
October 15, 1997 World Trade Center, Colombo, Sri Lanka 18 truck bomb
June 25, 1996 Khobar Towers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 19 truck bomb
January 31, 1996 Central Bank, Colombo, Sri Lanka 90 truck bomb
November 19, 1995 Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan 15 truck bomb
November 13, 1995 U.S military headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 5 car bomb
April 19, 1995 Federal building, Oklahoma City, United States 168 truck bomb
February 27, 1995 Zakho, Iraq 76 car bomb
January 30, 1995 Market, Algiers, Algeria 42 car bomb
July 18, 1994 Jewish center, Buenos Aires, Argentina 86 car bomb
April 6, 1994 Bus, Afula, Israel (First suicide bombing in Israel) 8 car bomb
March 12, 1993 Mumbai, India 257 car bombs
February 26, 1993 World Trade Center, New York City, United States 6 truck bomb
March 17, 1992 Israeli Embassy, Buenos Aires, Argentina 29 car bomb
May 12, 1990 Bogota and Cali, Colombia 39 car bombs (3)
April 14, 1988 USO Club, Naples, Italy 1 car bomb
July 5, 1987 Army Camp, Jaffna, Sri Lanka 40 truck bomb
August 19, 1986 Public square, Tehran, Iran 20 car bomb
March 8, 1985 Beirut, Lebanon 80 car bomb
September 20, 1984 U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon 20 car bomb
December 12, 1983 U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait City, Kuwait 5 car bombs (2)?
November 4, 1983 Israeli Army Post in Tyre, Lebanon 60 truck bomb
October 23, 1983 French Paratroop barracks in Beirut, Lebanon 58 truck bomb
October 23, 1983 U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon 241 truck bomb
May 20, 1983 Air Force Base in Pretoria, South Africa 20 car bomb
April 18, 1983 U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon 63 car bomb
May 17, 1974 Dublin and Monaghan, Northern Ireland 33 car bombs (2)
May 11, 1972 U.S. Army HQ, Frankfurt, Germany 1 car bomb
March 11, 1948 Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, Palestine 11 car bomb

Assassinations by car bombings (by date)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When Where Target Type
November 20, 2003 Istanbul, Turkey Roger Short, British consul general Suicide truck bomb
August 29, 2003 Najaf, Iraq Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim , Iraqi cleric (with 84 others) remote
August 19, 2003 Baghdad, Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, UN special representative (with 21 others) Suicide truck bomb
March 5, 2003 Paris, France Rene Chalon ignition-based
May 20, 2002 Beirut, Lebanon Mohammed Jihad Ahmed Jibril, son of PFLP-GC leader Ahmed Jibril unknown
January 24, 2002 Beirut, Lebanon Elie Hobeika, Phalangist militia leader remote
February 22, 2000 Vitoria, Spain Fernando Buesa, Basque Socialist Party leader remote
October 21, 1999 Ankara, Turkey Ahmet Taner Kislali, prominent Turkish intellectual tilt-based
July 30, 1990 London, England Ian Gow, Conservative MP dynamite
May 16, 1989 Beirut, Lebanon Hassan Khaled, Lebanese spiritual leader (with 21 others) remote
June 28, 1988 Athens, Greece William Nordeen, U.S. military attache remote
September 14, 1982 Beirut, Lebanon Bashir Gemayel, Phalangist "president" (and 25 others) timer
March 30, 1979 Palace of Westminster, Great Britain Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave tilt-based
September 21, 1976 Washington, D.C, U.S Orlando Letelier, Chilean exile unknown
June 2, 1976 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S Don Bolles, investigative reporter remote (dynamite)
September 30, 1974 Buenos Aires, Argentina Carlos Prats, Former Chilean army commander
December 4, 1928 Chicago, U.S "Dapper" Danny Hogan, mobster unknown