Topic: Iraqi Interior Ministry says insurgents kidnapping people to use in car bomb attacks

Media: The Associated Press
Byline:
Date: 21 September 2006


BAGHDAD, Iraq_Insurgents are no longer using just volunteers to drive
suicide car bombs but are instead kidnapping people with their cars, rigging
the vehicles with explosives, and blowing them up remotely, the Interior
Ministry said Thursday.

In what appears to be one of the newest developments in the deadly war waged
by the insurgency, the ministry said those who are kidnapped do not know
their car has been loaded with explosives when they are released.

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

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 then 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."

The announcement did not provide any further details and there was no one at
the ministry available for further comment.

There was no immediate reply from the U.S. military on the announcement.

In the past, U.S. officials said that insurgents often tape or handcuff a
suicide driver's hands to a car, or bind his foot to the accelerator pedal,
to ensure that the driver did not back out at the last minutes. The remains
of such hands and feet have been found at blast sites.

Although roadside bombs are the main weapon used by insurgents, suicide car
bombers are often their most effective one _ designed to maximize casualties
and sow fear among the population. According to the Washington-based
Brookings Institution, since the fall of Saddam Hussein to Sept. 17 there
have been 343 suicide car bombings involved in attacks causing multiple
deaths around Iraq.