Cutting into people by car is a new tactic of terrorists?

Updates. Another similar terrorist attack occurred on April 7, 2017 in Stockholm . On August 17, in Barcelona, ​​the van drove into a crowd of people. On April 7, 2018, in Munster, the car crashed into visitors to a street cafe.

On March 22, a terrorist attack occurred in London: the criminal was driving a car along the Westminster bridge and began to knock down passers -by on the sidewalk. About 40 people were injured, two of them died. After that, the driver got out of the car and attacked a policeman with a knife, later he died of wounds. The attacker was shot. The next day, March 23, the Antwerp police detained a man who, according to law enforcement officers, tried to enter a crowd of people by car. In 2016, two similar terrorist attacks occurred in Nice and Berlin - in total, almost a hundred people died in them and hundreds suffered. Medusa says what is known about the attack method, which has become popular among terrorists.

Cut into people by car - is this a new type of terrorist attacks or is it before?

This method of attack has been known for a long time, it is called Car-Ramming or Vehicle-Ramming. Tactics cannot be called new, but in recent years it has become especially popular among terrorists. In particular, it is often used by Palestinian radicals in Israel: since 2015, the authorities recorded more than fifty attempts by Taran. As a rule, criminals directed the car to Israeli soldiers or police officers or drove into people who were waiting for the bus at stops.

The largest terrorist attack of this kind occurred in Nice on July 14, 2016 during the celebration of the day of the capture of the Bastille, when the native of Tunisia on the truck crushed 86 people and caused injuries to hundreds of people. Similar attacks took place in Europe before: in 2014, more than 20 people suffered during terrorist attacks at Christmas fairs in Dijon and Nan.

When did the terrorists began to make such attacks more often?

In the late 2000s and early 2010s. Experts of the analytical company Stratfor suggest that Palestinian militants master new tactics against the Israelis, after three such attacks. Radical Islamic groups openly urged their supporters to use cars to kill the "infidels."

In 2010, the InSpire English-language journal, produced by one of the al-Keda terrorist groups, published material in which he explained to followers how to perform terrorist attacks with the help of trucks and jeeps. The author emphasized that such attacks were not used before, so they have a surprise effect. The London terrorist attack seemed to be written off from this instruction: the offender used a heavy car, chose a narrow plot in a crowded place (Westminster bridge), where it was difficult for the victims to run away, after which he did not try to hide, but continued the attack.

Why did terrorists use such tactics more often?

Because for some time it has become effective-the criminals and experts to combat terrorism directly speak about this. The machine is a much more affordable murder gun than a home -made explosive device. The new method allows you to involve a large number of people in terrorist crimes who could never contact any of the Islamist groups, but to share their views. For the same reason, attacks with ordinary kitchen knives were the main method of attacks in Israel. It is much more difficult for special services to resist such terrorist attacks than, for example, explosions: after all, a bomb can be found using a metal detector or trained dog - and such terrorist attacks, as a rule, are preceded by planning that can be tracked.

How do states resist the threat of new rams?

The main method is the protection of public places using cabinets or racks. In this way, for example, many bus stops in Israel were protected after a series of attacks in 2015. Perhaps in the future it will be possible to prevent such terrorist attacks using technology - the machines will begin to equip systems that will automatically stop the car if the driver does not respond to the danger of a collision. According to media reports, the truck, on which the attack was committed in Berlin in December 2016, was equipped with such a system, and this is what helped to avoid more victims. In 2012, the European Union already adopted the rules according to which all new heavy machines are supplied with automatic braking systems without fail.

Did such terrorist attacks happen in Russia?

No, but in Russia, an accident occurs quite often, during which drivers enter people at public transport stops. In 2015, it was discussed that Moscow stops will begin to protect with the help of special designs, but in Mosgortrans they refuted this information: there they said that other departments and institutes should do this.

Alexander Borzenko