What is behind the resurgence of vehicular-ramming terror attacks?

Analysis What is behind the resurgence of vehicular-ramming terror attacks?
Since the turn of the century, terrorism has shaped global debates and drastically influenced government policies and budgets. (AFP)
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Updated 14 January 2025
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What is behind the resurgence of vehicular-ramming terror attacks?

What is behind the resurgence of vehicular-ramming terror attacks?
  • Bollards and urban design changes reduce VAW risks but aren't foolproof — a multi-layered approach is essential, says counterterrorism expert
  • Geofencing and blockchain forensics are emerging tools to track suspicious transactions and block vehicles from high-risk areas

LONDON: Vehicles have a long history as tools of terror, but their use has surged in recent years, becoming a preferred method for attackers seeking to cause mass casualty events, creating headaches for security agencies.

On Jan. 1, at approximately 3:15 p.m. local time, a Ford pickup truck plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. The FBI has classified the attack as terrorism.

The driver, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a Texas native, was found to have a Daesh flag inside the vehicle. Before he was shot dead by police, Jabbar recorded videos referencing his divorce and how he joined Daesh earlier in the summer, authorities revealed.

Initially believed to have acted alone, investigators said on Monday they were pursuing leads related to his recent travels to Egypt, Canada, and several US cities.

On the same day as the New Orleans attack, another incident took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames outside the Trump International Hotel.

The perpetrator, Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret and highly decorated soldier from Colorado Springs, refrained from labeling his actions as terrorism.




A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel on Jan. 1. (AFP)

In notes discovered by authorities, Livelsberger, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, described the act as a “wake-up call” rather than a terrorist attack. Despite this, the method — the use of a vehicle as a weapon — was a common feature.

Earlier in December, a rented black BMW SUV was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, central Germany, killing six and injuring almost 300. The suspect, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, a German citizen of Saudi origin, was arrested at the scene.

While his social media history revealed anti-Islam and anti-immigration remarks, German authorities are continuing to search for a motive, emphasizing that he appeared to have acted alone.

While these incidents may seem unrelated, they again share a critical commonality: the weapon of choice.

“While accessibility is a key factor, vehicles also appeal to terrorists for strategic and technological reasons,” Danielle Cosgrove, a member of the Counterterrorism Group at the Atlantic Council, told Arab News.

“Their widespread availability and ability to blend into myriad environments allow attackers to operate under the radar,” she said, adding that platforms like peer-to-peer car rental services — including Turo, which was used by both US attackers — coupled with cryptocurrency payments, have made it easier for attackers to rent vehicles anonymously, avoiding traditional paper trails.




An artist lights candles at a memorial on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Getty Images/AFP)

Since the turn of the century, terrorism has shaped global debates and drastically influenced government policies and budgets. According to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, the US alone — by far the largest spender — allocated around $8 trillion to the global war on terror between 2001 and 2022.

Despite this immense expenditure, the number of “vehicle-as-a-weapon,” or VAW, attacks has risen. More than 40 such incidents have occurred globally in recent years, although the exact figure varies due to inconsistent reporting and regional definitions.

A 2019 study by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University found that the majority of these attacks took place in Israel and the West Bank.

FASTFACTS

• Vehicle-as-a-weapon attacks have surged globally, with more than 40 incidents in recent years targeting crowded areas.

• Groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda promote vehicle attacks for their accessibility, ease of use, and high casualty potential.

• Experts advocate AI surveillance, stricter rental policies, and smart urban designs to prevent future vehicle-based attacks.


“Vehicle-based attacks remain prevalent because they are able to exploit gaps in both physical security and digital infrastructure,” Cosgrove said.

She explained that while “modern counterterrorism efforts have become highly effective at identifying organized plots, lone-wolf terrorists — often radicalized online — pose a different kind of challenge.”

Although terrorist groups began using ramming attacks in the 1990s, calls for such attacks intensified a decade later. In 2010, Al-Qaeda encouraged its followers through its magazine, Inspire, to use vehicles to “mow down the enemies of Allah.”




A car drives through the annual Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. (CCTV Video)

The tactic — propelled by the rise of online forums and propaganda networks offering tactical guidance, including detailed step-by-step instructions — gained momentum years later, as groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula publicly advocated for vehicle-based attacks, recommending four-wheel-drive pickup trucks for their strength and effectiveness in targeting crowded places such as markets and public events.

“Beyond logistical ease, vehicles create mass casualties in crowded areas and generate widespread media attention, aligning with terrorists’ goals of fear and disruption,” Cosgrove said.

In one of the deadliest VAW attacks in history, in July 2016, more than 80 people were killed and hundreds injured when a man drove a 19-ton truck through a crowd gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks in Nice, southern France, before the driver was shot dead by police at the scene.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a “special operation using a truck” carried out by one of its “soldiers” — Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian man with French residency status.

However, despite a 2022 French court sentencing eight individuals for aiding the attack, authorities found no concrete links between the perpetrator and the extremist group. The case highlighted what officials called “the extreme difficulty of the fight against terrorism.”

“The biggest challenge in spotting these attacks before they happen lies in identifying intent rather than capability,” said Cosgrove, explaining that vehicles, being easily accessible and requiring limited training or skill, allow attackers to “operate under the radar.”

She added that the “rise of AI-driven radicalization also complicates early intervention, as lone wolves often operate outside of traditional terrorist networks in spite of ideological backing.”




People attend a commemoration after the Christmas market car-ramming attack in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. (AFP)

While Daesh has claimed many VAW attacks in the US and Europe — where access to firearms is more restricted — authorities have struggled to establish concrete links beyond ideological inspiration. Regardless of the motives, such attacks have proven extremely difficult to prevent.

Following a wave of vehicle ramming incidents between 2014 and 2017, many cities implemented urban design changes, such as installing barriers and bollards. Yet, Cosgrove says these measures provide only limited reassurance.

“To mitigate these risks, cities and countries should adopt a multi-layered approach,” she said.

This includes artificial-intelligence-powered surveillance to flag anomalies such as erratic driving or rapid vehicle rentals under different aliases, stricter regulations for rental platforms such as “know your customer” policies, geofencing, smart urban design to limit access to high-risk areas, and blockchain forensics to track suspicious transactions tied to vehicle rentals or extremist financing.

However, with the rapid advance of technologies like self-driving cars, Cosgrove says authorities must act swiftly to address potential vulnerabilities. “Self-driving cars introduce both risks and opportunities,” she said.




Police secured the area where a car exploded in Las Vegas. (Getty Images/AFP)

“On one hand, autonomous vehicles could be hijacked digitally, turning them into remotely controlled weapons. On the other hand, self-driving technology also presents opportunities for prevention,” allowing autonomous technology to be programmed with safeguards like geofencing to block entry into pedestrian zones or high-risk areas.

“The key challenge will be cybersecurity. As autonomous vehicles become more widespread, policymakers ought to prioritize regulations to close vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

“Strengthening digital security, enforcing smarter regulations, and designing urban defenses must go hand in hand to address both physical and digital vulnerabilities in the fight against terrorism in a digital age.”

 


India urges restraint but remains ‘fully prepared’ amid tensions with Pakistan, army says

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri holds a press briefing with Indian army officials following India’s military strikes.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri holds a press briefing with Indian army officials following India’s military strikes.
Updated 10 sec ago
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India urges restraint but remains ‘fully prepared’ amid tensions with Pakistan, army says

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri holds a press briefing with Indian army officials following India’s military strikes.
  • Indian strikes were ‘measured, non-escalatory, responsible’ foreign secretary says

NEW DELHI: Indian forces are fully prepared to respond to any retaliation from Pakistan, an army spokeswoman said on Wednesday, after Delhi launched missile strikes on Pakistani sites that it said were linked to last month’s deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Indian Armed Forces launched “Operation Sindoor” in the early hours of Wednesday, hitting nine locations in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, from where it said “terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.”

The strikes came amid heightened tensions between the rivaling neighbors in the aftermath of an attack on tourists near the resort town of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 people — 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen — were killed.

“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in its response. However, it must be said that the Indian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to Pakistani misadventures, if any, that will escalate the situation,” Wing Commander Vyomika Singh told a joint briefing by the Indian military and Ministry of External Affairs in the Indian capital.

“Operation Sindoor was launched by Indian Armed Forces to deliver justice to the victims of Pahalgam terror attack and their families.”

She said that Indian forces used niche technology weapons and carefully chose warheads to avoid collateral damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure, without providing more detail.

Sindoor, which refers to the vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women, is an apparent reference to the widows left by the April 22 attack, in which the victims were all men.

Indian officials showed footage of what they said were strikes on the targets in Pakistan during the Delhi briefing, as well as a map marking locations of what they said were “terror infrastructure.”

“Over the last three decades, Pakistan has systematically built terror infrastructure. It is a complex web of recruitment and indoctrination centers, training areas for initial and refresh of courses and launch pads for handlers. These camps are located both in Pakistan as well as Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir areas,” Singh said.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India’s actions were “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.”

“They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India.”

He said the strikes were launched because there was “no demonstrable step” from Pakistan to “take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control” since the Pahalgam attack.

“Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending,” he said.

Kashmir has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Both countries claim the Himalayan region in full and rule in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.

Indian-administered Kashmir has for decades witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgency to resist control from the government in Delhi, which accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants since 1989. Islamabad has denied those allegations, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

A Pakistan military spokesperson said at least 26 civilians were killed in the Indian strikes on Wednesday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday the country’s top national security body had authorized its armed forces to take “corresponding actions” in response to the Indian strikes.

India and Pakistan have had near daily exchanges of fire across the de facto border, called the Line of Control, which divides disputed Kashmir between them.

On Wednesday morning, they also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across much of the frontier, which reportedly killed and injured dozens of civilians on both sides.


EU takes Hungary to top court in migrant smuggler case

EU takes Hungary to top court in migrant smuggler case
Updated 36 min 5 sec ago
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EU takes Hungary to top court in migrant smuggler case

EU takes Hungary to top court in migrant smuggler case
  • The EU charged that no system was put in place to ensure smugglers were taken back into custody once expelled
  • Brussels accuses Budapest of a failure to meet its obligations

BRUSSELS: The European Commission on Wednesday said it will take Hungary to the EU’s top court for breaching rules on combatting people-trafficking, in the latest showdown between Brussels and the nationalist government in Budapest.
Brussels launched legal action in 2023 after Budapest decided to release and expel several thousand jailed migrant traffickers on the grounds holding them in Hungarian prisons was a burden to the taxpayer.
An April 2023 decree by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government enabled the smugglers’ release — giving them three days to leave Hungary, theoretically with a view to serving out their sentences in their home country.
But the EU charged that no system was put in place to ensure smugglers were taken back into custody once expelled, and decided to refer Hungary to the European Court of Justice after it failed to address the concerns.
More than 2,400 people-smugglers had been released under the measure as of January this year, according to Hungarian government figures.
Brussels accuses Budapest of a failure to meet its obligations to “impose effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions” for migrant smuggling.
Hungary’s government has retorted that human traffickers can only operate because of European laws encouraging migration.
Brussels has repeatedly locked horns with Orban’s government over its tough line on migration — one of a long list of areas where the EU deems Budapest to be falling short of its democratic standards.
In June last year, the EU’s top court fined Hungary 200 million euros ($216 million) and imposed a daily one-million-euro penalty for illegally deporting migrants.
More broadly, billions of euros in EU funds are currently frozen over issues including the treatment of asylum seekers, LGBTQ rights, alleged corruption and the independence of academics.


Senior Tories urge Palestinian recognition in letter to UK PM

An Israeli army bulldozer demolishes homes next to a mosque in the Palestinian urban refugee camp of Nur Shams, in the West Bank
An Israeli army bulldozer demolishes homes next to a mosque in the Palestinian urban refugee camp of Nur Shams, in the West Bank
Updated 07 May 2025
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Senior Tories urge Palestinian recognition in letter to UK PM

An Israeli army bulldozer demolishes homes next to a mosque in the Palestinian urban refugee camp of Nur Shams, in the West Bank
  • Group of 7 MPs, 6 Lords peers break ranks with party over ‘opportunity for Britain to show leadership’
  • It comes ahead of critical Saudi-French conference on 2-state solution next month

LONDON: A group of senior Conservative MPs and peers in the UK have broken ranks with their own party and called on the government to immediately recognize Palestine as a state.

In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer drafted in late March, seven MPs and six House of Lords peers urged the government to give formal recognition to Palestine, The Guardian reported.

It comes ahead of critical UN talks on the issue next month.

The letter, seen by The Guardian, was authored just after Israel broke its tenuous peace agreement with Hamas in March.

The breakdown in negotiations and peace efforts worsened this week after the Israeli cabinet approved plans to “conquer” and occupy almost all of the Gaza Strip.

Former government minister Kit Malthouse, from the moderate wing of the opposition Conservative Party, organized the letter.

It said: “For decades, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement and systemic restrictions on their basic freedoms.

“Recognising Palestine would affirm our nation’s commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights. It would send a clear message that Britain stands against indefinite occupation and supports the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations.”

The letter was also signed by Conservatives associated with the right of the party, including John Hayes and Desmond Swayne.

Most countries with UN membership formally recognize Palestine as a state, but the US and the majority of European countries do not.

Saudi Arabia and France next month will host a conference to rally support for a two-state solution to the conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that France could grant formal recognition to Palestine at the conference.

David Lammy, the British foreign secretary, said last week that the government was discussing its plans with France for the event in June.

Starmer is understood to not have replied to the Conservative letter.

Last year, David Cameron, the former prime minister, said that he wanted Palestinian recognition as part of peace negotiations with Israel, and not as a reward for the reaching of a two-state solution.

The letter sent to Starmer added: “Recognition should not be treated as a distant bargaining chip but as a necessary step to reinforce international law and diplomacy. Prime minister, we stand ready to offer our public support for this decision.

“This is an opportunity for Britain to show leadership, to be on the right side of history and to uphold the principles we claim to champion. More than 140 UN member states have already recognised Palestine — it is time for the United Kingdom to do the same.”

A government spokesperson told The Guardian that the UK remains committed to a two-state solution, highlighting recent talks between Starmer and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.


Pakistan says armed forces authorized to undertake ‘corresponding actions’ after India strikes

Pakistan says armed forces authorized to undertake ‘corresponding actions’ after India strikes
Updated 07 May 2025
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Pakistan says armed forces authorized to undertake ‘corresponding actions’ after India strikes

Pakistan says armed forces authorized to undertake ‘corresponding actions’ after India strikes
  • India says struck nine sites that served as militant recruitment centers, launchpads and indoctrination centers
  • Pakistan army says at least six locations across its territory targeted, with 26 civilians killed and 46 injured

Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday the country’s top national security body had authorized its armed forces to take “corresponding actions” in response to Indian strikes inside Pakistani territory in which 26 civilians were killed overnight. 

In the sharpest military escalation in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed rivals, the Indian government said it struck nine Pakistani "terrorist infrastructure" sites where a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 had been planned. The assault took place on the tourist hill station of Pahalgam in the part of Kashmir governed by India, with 26 men killed. 

The Pakistani military said six locations across its territory - Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh in the eastern province of Punjab and Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir - were targeted. Azad Kashmir is the part of the disputed Kashmir valley that is administered by Pakistan. 

In response, Pakistan military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian planes and one combat drone that had attacked Pakistan were shot down, naming three Rafales and an MiG-29 and Su-57 each.

“In consonance with Article-51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan reserves the right to respond, in self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty,” PM Sharif’s office said in a statement after he chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee, referring to the right of self-defense according to Chapter VII, Article 51, of the UN Charter.

“The Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorized to undertake corresponding actions in this regard.”

The statement added that India, “against all sanity and rationality, has once again ignited an inferno in the region,” saying the responsibility for ensuing consequences lay squarely with New Delhi. 

Pakistan's foreign ministry said the Chargé d’Affaires had been summoned "to receive Pakistan’s strong protest over the unprovoked Indian strikes.”

“The Indian side was warned that such reckless behavior poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability.”

“Terrorist camps”

In New Delhi, two Indian military spokespersons told a briefing Indian forces had attacked facilities linked to militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistani officials say India only hit civilian infrastructure. 

The strikes targeted "terrorist camps" that served as recruitment centers, launchpads, and indoctrination centers, and housed weapons and training facilities, the Indian spokespersons said.

They said Indian forces used niche technology weapons and carefully chose warheads to avoid collateral damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure, but did not elaborate on the specifics or methods used in the strikes.

"Intelligence and monitoring of Pakistan-based terror modules showed that further attacks against India were impending, therefore it was necessary to take pre-emptive and precautionary strikes," Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, the top official in its external affairs ministry, told the briefing.

The joint briefing by the Indian military and foreign ministry listed past attacks in India blamed on Pakistan, with Misri saying Pakistan had not done anything to "terrorist infrastructure" after the Pahalgam attack, which triggered the latest standoff. 

Pakistan had denied involvement in the attack and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had offered to be part of any credible and transparent investigation, which he reiterated in the latest statement by the NSC.

Kashmir has been disputed between India and Pakistan since 1947. Both rule it in part and claim it in full and have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants involved in a separatist insurgency in its part of Kashmir since 1989, which Islamabad denies, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.

The current confrontation is reminiscent of the last major military standoff between the two nations in 2019, when an Indian airstrike in the northwestern town of Balakot was followed by Pakistani retaliatory action, including the downing of an Indian fighter jet and the capture of its pilot, who was later released in a gesture of goodwill.

On Wednesday morning, the South Asian neighbors also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across much of their de facto border called the Line of Control, which divides disputed Kashmir between them. 

The shelling across the frontier in Kashmir killed 10 civilians and injured 48 in the Indian part of the region, police there told media. At least six people were killed on the Pakistani side, Reuters reported, quoting officials.

Four local government sources in Indian-administered Kashmir told Reuters three fighter jets had crashed in separate areas of the Himalayan region during the night. Indian defense ministry officials have not officially confirmed the report.

(With input from Reuters)


Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected

Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected
Updated 07 May 2025
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Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected

Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected
  • The road leading to the airport was closed to traffic, and police blocked access to the airport

ROVANIEMI : A Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet crashed Wednesday near the Rovaniemi airport in Finland’s Arctic north, but the pilot was rescued after ejecting, the armed forces said.
No details were available about the cause of the crash, which occurred “in the Rovaniemi airport area” around 11:00 am (0800 GMT), the military said.
Dark smoke could be seen rising from the scene and several emergency vehicles were dispatched to the area, public service broadcaster YLE said.
The road leading to the airport was closed to traffic, and police blocked access to the airport, it added.
Airport operator Finavia told AFP that it did not expect civilian flights to be affected by the accident for the time being, with the next flight not expected for several hours.