Car bombs, which are called Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices by the military, use explosives to weaponize cars, trucks and even motorcycles. They are used globally by terrorists and militias in assassinations aimed at killing a specific individual and in attacks designed to achieve mass destruction to people and property.
In some car bombings, explosives are rigged to a car or truck's ignition system, and triggered when the vehicle is turned on. In others, explosives are attached to another part of the car, or beneath it, and set off remotely.
Car bombs can also be deployed in suicide attacks. In such attacks, a car or truck is packed with explosives and then driven into a building, another vehicle or another target. Car bombs have been used by the IRA, by Hezbollah, by the Tamil Tigers and by jihadist groups associated with Al Qaeda.
Ramzi Yousef's 1993 World Trade Center attack was carried out with explosives packed into a van, which were triggered by twenty foot long fuses attached to the van and lit by a cigarette lighter.
