Exploding donkey

There have been several documented incidents of donkeys and mules being used to deliver bombs.

Lebanon

After the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel, Shiite militants turned to suicide attacks to drive out the Israeli army. On one occasion, a mule was used as a bomb carrier instead. Other times, bombers were intercepted with explosives hidden on themselves while they were riding donkeys.

West Bank

One donkey was exploded near a checkpoint in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on January 26, 2003. No humans died in the attack, and it was uncertain as to whether the attack was meant specifically to kill Israeli soldiers; the attack coincided with Israeli advances into the Gaza Strip.

The attack did provoke a response from PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, who, after receiving many complaints, wrote a letter to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat asking him to encourage others to "leave the animals out of this conflict". In the letter, she cited historical examples of US, UK, and Al Qaeda-sponsored abuses of other animals in conflicts, specifically noting dogs were simply left in Vietnam by the US during the Vietnam War, despite the fact that they were "loyal." She thus came to the conclusion that:

Iraq

In 2004, during the Iraq War, a donkey in Ramadi, Iraq was loaded with explosives and set off towards a US-run checkpoint. It exploded before it was able to injure or kill anyone but itself. The incident, along with a number of similar incidents involving dogs, fueled fears of terrorist practices of using living animals as weapons, a change from an older practice of using the bodies of dead animals to hold explosives. To one official, this was a simple variation of using "mentally retarded people for operations during the elections." A colonel added that "using people and animals" was a terrorist tactic that seemed to be replacing car bombs.Fact|date=May 2007

ee also

* Exploding animal
* Exploding sheep

References

* CBS news: [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/27/world/main538044.shtml Israel Moves Deep Into Gaza] January 26, 2003.
* PETA [http://www.peta.org/feat/arafat/ Leave the Animals in Peace: PETA's letter to Yasser Arafat] February 3, 2003.
* The Standard (originally from The Los Angeles Times): [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Focus/GH12Dh02.html Dogs of war can be friend or foe] August 12, 2005.