'Suicide car bombers' abducted

2006-09-21 23:16

Baghdad - Insurgents were no longer using just volunteers to drive suicide car bombs, but were instead kidnapping people with their cars, rigging the vehicles with explosives, and blowing them up remotely, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

In what appeared to be one of the latest developments in the deadly war waged by the insurgency, the ministry said those who were kidnapped did not know their car had been loaded with explosives when they were released.

"According to our intelligence information, recent car-bomb explosions targeting checkpoints and public places have nothing to do with (traditional) terrorist operations," said the ministry.

It said that first "a motorist is kidnapped with his car. They then booby trap the car without the driver knowing".

"Then the kidnapped driver is released and threatened to take a certain road."

The kidnappers follow the car and, when the unwitting victim "reaches a checkpoint, a public place, or an army or police patrol, the criminal terrorists following the driver detonate the car from a distance".

There was no immediate reply from the US military.

In the past, US officials said that insurgents often taped or handcuffed a suicide driver's hands to a car, or bound his foot to the accelerator pedal, to ensure that the driver did not back out at the last minute.

Although roadside bombs are the main weapon used by insurgents, suicide car-bombers are often their most-effective one - designed to maximise casualties and sow fear among the population.

- AP