Donkey ‘suicide’ bombing: A new Taliban attack technique

Donkey “suicide” bombing is supposed to be a new addition to the Taliban attack techniques used in Afghanistan against US led forces. A team of British army has recently survived a similar attack in southern Helmand province in Afghanistan.

A senior British army officer along with six other military personnel reportedly survived a suicide bombing attack when a tethered donkey packed with explosives in two buckets attached to its saddle was detonated while the army vehicle passed in the southern part of the country. The army officer said: ”We’d spotted the donkey tethered to a tree as we were on our way down south to monitor an operation that had been going on that day, but thought nothing of it. There are donkeys around everywhere.” Everything was alright when they passed first time, but when the patrol team returned through the same route to their headquarters at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Delhi, explosive laden donkey was detonated. The huge explosion blew the donkey into pieces showering the soldier standing on top cover out of the Mastiff’s turret with splash of blood and donkey entrails. The sight was so gruesome that other soldiers in the vehicle thought he had been severely injured by the blast. The army officer said: “I was asleep because you can feel quite nauseous traveling in a Mastiff and was woken by the explosion. When I saw the top cover guy covered in blood, I tried to get to him with emergency medical kit.” However, the top cover soldier started shouting: “I am alright, I am alright.” The army officer recalled: “He said he was all right but I told him he had been badly injured. When we realized what had happened it wasn’t long before the first donkey jokes started to come out — ‘drop the dead donkey’ was one, and ‘pain in the ass’ another.” Three wheels of the Mastiff got damaged by the explosion and top guy reportedly had severe hearing problems due to the incident. According to the army officer, the top cover soldier was extremely lucky to escape the explosion. He said the explosives were packed with nails which could cause severe injuries to the soldier. He also said that the donkey might have carried at least 20 kg explosives in the two buckets. Taliban fighters are reportedly digging bombs in around their positions and also placing them around the known British patrol route in Helmand province. A team of 300 British bomb disposal specialists has reached Helmand to tackle this growing problem.