The use of vehicles as weapons in terror attacks

Radical groups have urged supporters to use any weapons at hand, including cars in terror attacks. Here's a look at some instances.

Authorities stand near a damaged Home Depot truck after a motorist drove onto a bike path near the World Trade Center memorial, striking and killing several people Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Authorities stand near a damaged Home Depot truck after a motorist drove onto a bike path near the World Trade Center memorial, Oct 31 Source: AP

The suspect in the fatal  used a rented truck to mow down pedestrians and cyclists along a bike path near the World Trade Centre memorial. It's the latest in a string of incidents around the world where drivers have used their vehicles as weapons.

August 17, 2017

A rented van veers into Barcelona's crowded Las Ramblas promenade, swerving along the walkway and killing 13 people. Attackers drive a second vehicle to the boardwalk in the resort town of Cambrils the next day, fatally injuring one person. Islamic State claims the group as its own.

August 12, 2017

A car slams into a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32-year-old legal assistant Heather Heyer.

June 19, 2017

A van attacks a crowd of Muslim worshippers near two north London mosques killing a 51-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant and injuring nine other people. British authorities charge Darren Osborne, an unemployed man from Wales, with murder and attempted murder.

April 7, 2017

A man drives a stolen beer truck into a crowd of afternoon shoppers outside the Ahlens store in Stockholm, killing four and injuring 15 others. An Uzbek man, Rakhmat Akilov, is arrested and pleads guilty to a terrorist crime.

March 22, 2017

Khalid Masood runs his rented SUV into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge. Three people are killed on the bridge; a fourth person dies later. Police say Masood was inspired by extremist ideology.

January 20, 2017

A man with a history of mental health and drug abuse issues drives into a street crowded with pedestrians in Melbourne killing at least four people, including a child, and injuring around 15 others. Police say the incident had no links to terrorism.

January 8, 2017

A Palestinian truck driver rams his vehicle into a crowd of Israeli soldiers at a popular Jerusalem tourist spot, killing four people and wounding 17.

December 19, 2016

A young Tunisian rams a truck into a crowded Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 and injuring dozens in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

November 28, 2016

Eighteen-year-old Somali-born Abdul Razak Ali Artan drives a car into a crowd of students at Ohio State University then attacks bystanders with a knife. Thirteen people are injured.

July 14, 2016

A Tunisian living in France ploughs a refrigerator truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the Mediterranean beachfront in Nice, killing 86. Attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, is killed by police.

December 2014

A motorist injures13 pedestrians in the French city of Dijon; a day later, a man ran over pedestrians at a Christmas market in Nantes in western France, killing one and injuring nine. Both suspects had histories of mental illness.

October 20, 2014

A 25-year-old man drives his car into two Canadian Air Force members near Montreal, killing one and injuring another. Authorities say the driver was a convert to Islam.


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Published 1 November 2017 11:06am
Updated 1 November 2017 11:32am
Source: AAP


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