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45-517: Founded in 1989 by Jaba Ioseliani , the Mkhedrioni presented itself as the heir to historic Georgian guerrilla groups who fought Iranian and Ottoman occupiers. The group's name literally means "horsemen", but in Georgian it has a meaning closer to "knights" (this alternative translation has occasionally been used). Each member of the organization would take an oath to defend Georgia's people,

90-652: A heart attack in March 2003. When the Mkhedrioni failed to secure registration to stand in elections under its own name, it reconstituted itself in November 2002 as a political party called the Union of Patriots in alliance with former Gamsakhurdia supporters. It was again refused registration by the government. Its leader Badri Zarandia was assassinated on January 8, 2003. Jaba Ioseliani Jaba Ioseliani (Georgian ჯაბა იოსელიანი; 10 July 1926 – 4 March 2003)

135-640: A car bomb involves keeping vehicles at a distance from vulnerable targets by using roadblocks and checkpoints , Jersey barriers , concrete blocks or bollards , metal barriers , or by hardening buildings to withstand an explosion. The entrance to Downing Street in London has been closed since 1991 in reaction to the Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign, preventing the general public from getting near Number 10 . Where major public roads pass near buildings, road closures may be

180-496: A crucial role in suppressing the remaining "Zviadists" after the downfall of Gamsakhurdia. Eduard Shevardnadze , a former Soviet foreign minister, was brought in to provide a respectable face for the new government, but it remained dependent on the Mkhedrioni: even inside the parliament building, Mkhedrioni gunmen had a constant presence as "bodyguards" for Jaba Ioseliani, who was now a member of parliament . Mkhedrioni were given

225-513: A driver but armoured to withstand incoming fire. The vehicle would be driven to its target area, in a similar fashion to a kamikaze plane of WW2 . These were known by the acronym SVBIED (from Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device ) or VBIEDs. This saw generally civilian cars with armour plating added, that would protect the car for as long as possible, so that it could reach its intended target. Cars were sometimes driven into enemy troop areas, or into incoming enemy columns. Most often,

270-572: A school was destroyed. Mass-casualty suicide car bombings are predominantly associated with the Middle East, particularly in recent decades. A notable suicide car bombing was the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing , when two simultaneous attacks killed 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers. The perpetrator of these attacks has never been positively confirmed. In the Lebanese Civil War , an estimated 3,641 car bombs were detonated. The tactic

315-422: A single vehicle may be used, or an initial "breakthrough" vehicle, then followed by another vehicle. While many car bombs are disguised as ordinary vehicles, some that are used against military forces have improvised vehicle armour attached to prevent the driver from being shot when attacking a fortified outpost. Car bombs and detonators function in a diverse manner of ways and there are numerous variables in

360-401: A terrain, the circuit is completed, and the explosive is detonated. Car bombs are effective as booby traps because they also leave very little evidence. When an explosion happens, it is difficult for forensics to find any evidence because things either denigrate or become charred. As a safety mechanism to protect the bomber, the placer of the bomb may rig a timing device incorporated with

405-552: A uniform of jeans, sweaters and jackets, topped off by sunglasses (even worn indoors). Leaders wore Armani suits bulging with guns, according to one author. Mkhedrioni relied on illegal sources of income (targeting gasoline supplies) and exploited connections with Moscow's Georgian underworld . Mkhedrioni members were often accused of criminal activity, extorting "protection money" from businesses in areas which they effectively controlled, operating roadblocks where drivers would be "fined", smuggling drugs and committing robberies. By 1991,

450-488: A violent coup d'état against the Gamsakhurdia government in alliance with the Mkhedrioni. Intense gun battles took place in the streets of Tbilisi between the rebels and " Zviadists " holed up in the state parliament building during December 1991 – January 1992, which ended with Gamsakhurdia fleeing to the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya . At least 100 people were killed in the fighting. The Mkhedrioni played

495-509: A weapon of urban warfare" came January 12, 1947 when Lehi (also known as Stern Gang), a Zionist paramilitary organization, bombed the Haifa police station . In the fall of 2005, there were 140 car bombings happening per month. Car bombs are preceded by the 16th century hellburners , explosive-laden ships which were used to deadly effect by the besieged Dutch forces in Antwerp against

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540-677: The Abkhaz and Ossetians , were difficult at best even during Soviet rule and grew more tense during the rise to power of the nationalist dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia . The Mkhedrioni was one of a number of nationalist paramilitary groups established during this period as a counterbalance to similar paramilitary organisations set up by rival nationalists elsewhere in Georgia. The Mkhedrioni's members gained an unpleasant reputation as heavily armed thugs who engaged in violent intimidation of their rivals. They were highly visible, wearing what amounted to

585-546: The Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church and Georgia's land, and wore a medallion with a scene of Saint George slaying the dragon on one side and the bearer's name and blood type on the other. The establishment of the Mkhedrioni took place as Georgia moved towards independence in the final years of the Soviet Union . Relations between Georgian nationalists and the country's national minorities, especially

630-468: The Georgian Institute of Theater Arts, where he became a professor. He wrote a number of popular plays. Ioseliani rose to prominence as the leader of the Mkhedrioni, a heavily armed paramilitary group which he founded in 1989. He attempted to take control of large areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with the goal of defeating regional separatist elements. In February 1991, his organisation

675-593: The Mkhedrioni has had relations with Chechen separatists and continues to be involved in criminal and paramilitary activities, including continued guerrilla attacks in Abkhazia. Jaba Ioseliani was released from prison in an amnesty in April 2000 and resumed his post as head of the Mkhedrioni, declaring his intention to run for president and participate in the November 2003 parliamentary elections . However, Ioseliani died of

720-457: The Mkhedrioni was banned. In August 1991, just after the Soviet coup attempt , Gamsakhurdia sacked Tengiz Kitovani , the commander of Georgia's National Guard, and his Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua resigned around the same time. Kitovani soon formed an anti-Gamsakhurdia alliance with Sigua and the imprisoned Ioseliani. In December 1991, Kitovani's supporters released Ioseliani from jail and launched

765-417: The Mkhedrioni was claimed to have had about 1,000 fighters and 10,000 associate members – considerably more than the official state National Guard . Despite Gamsakhurdia and Ioseliani sharing a broadly similar nationalist outlook, the two men fell out badly shortly after Gamsakhurdia came to power in November 1990. In February 1991, Ioseliani was imprisoned without trial, along with many of his supporters, and

810-448: The Mkhedrioni. The organisation was outlawed and Ioseliani imprisoned, although many regarded the claim that it had been involved in the bombing as being inconclusively proven. In spite of its banning, the Mkhedrioni continues to have a somewhat shadowy existence in Georgian politics. A number of members, led by Tornike Berishvili, recreated it in 1999 as an ostensibly political rather than paramilitary organisation. It has been claimed that

855-456: The Pantheon of Didube, Tbilisi. Car bomb A car bomb , bus bomb , van bomb , lorry bomb , or truck bomb , also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device ( VBIED ), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided into two main categories: those used primarily to kill the occupants of

900-531: The SVBIEDs were used by ISIL against Government forces, but also used by Syrian rebels ( FSA and allied militias , especially the Al-Nusra Front ) against government troops. The vehicles have become more sophisticated, with armour plating on the vehicle, protected vision slits, armour plating over the wheels so they would withstand being shot at, and also in some cases, additional metal grating over

945-489: The besieging Spanish . Though using a less refined technology, the basic principle of the hellburner is similar to that of the car bomb. Car bombs would start out with animals such as horses and cows, then it eventually emerged into a car. The first reported suicide car bombing (and possibly the first suicide bombing) was the Bath School bombings of 1927, where 45 people, including the bomber, were killed and half of

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990-464: The blast site or to damage buildings or other property. Car bombs act as their own delivery mechanisms and can carry a relatively large amount of explosives without attracting suspicion. In larger vehicles and trucks, weights of around 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) or more have been used, for example, in the Oklahoma City bombing . Car bombs are activated in a variety of ways, including opening

1035-504: The car bomb to Northern Ireland . Car bombs were also used by Ulster loyalist groups (for example, by the UVF during the Dublin and Monaghan bombings ). PIRA Chief of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin defines the car bomb as both a tactical and a strategic guerrilla warfare weapon. Strategically, it disrupts the ability of the enemy government to administer the country, and hits simultaneously at

1080-543: The core of its economic structure by means of massive destruction. From a tactical point of view, it ties down a large number of security forces and troops around the main urban areas of the region in conflict. Car bombs are effective weapons as they are an easy way to transport a large number of explosives to the intended target. A car bomb also produces copious shrapnel , or flying debris, and secondary damage to bystanders and buildings. In recent years, car bombs have become widely used by suicide bombers. Defending against

1125-441: The front of the vehicle designed to crush or destroy shaped charges such as those used on rocket propelled grenades . In some cases, trucks were also used as well as cars. They were sometimes used to start an assault. Generally, the vehicles had a large space that would contain very heavy explosives. In some cases, animal drawn carts with improvised explosive devices have been used, generally either mules or horses. Tactically,

1170-611: The one used for the assassination attempt on Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1905 in Istanbul by Armenian separatists in the command of Papken Siuni belonging to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation . Car bombing was a significant part of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) campaign during The Troubles in Northern Ireland . Dáithí Ó Conaill is credited with introducing

1215-569: The only option (thus, for instance, in Washington, D.C. the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue immediately in front of the White House is closed to traffic). Historically these tactics have encouraged potential bombers to target "soft" or unprotected targets , such as markets. In the Iraqi and Syrian Civil War , the car bomb concept was modified so that it could be driven and detonated by

1260-416: The operation and placement of the bomb within the vehicle. Earlier and less advanced car bombs were often wired to the car's ignition system, but this practice is now considered more laborious and less effective than other more recent methods, as it requires a greater amount of work for a system that can often be quite easily defused . While it is more common nowadays for car bombs to be fixed magnetically to

1305-464: The organisation's power. Although Ioseliani remained head of the supposedly civilianised organisation, it continued to function as a private army. In early 1995, Shevardnadze ordered it to disarm, accusing it of deep involvement in organised crime. He narrowly escaped assassination in a bomb attack on August 29, 1995, which he blamed on a shadowy coalition of "mafia forces" including Ioseliani and others. Other acts of political violence were also blamed on

1350-478: The pro-Gamsakhurdia region of Samegrelo , where the Mkhedrioni were accused of carrying out a number of extrajudicial killings . There were also widespread allegations that Ioseliani and his supporters were systematically "taxing" businesses and individuals in areas under their control. On 29 August 1995, Shevardnadze narrowly escaped assassination in a bomb attack. The attack was blamed on a shadowy coalition of "mafia forces" including Ioseliani and others. Ioseliani

1395-520: The region: over 10,000 people were killed in the fighting. In September 1993, Gamsakhurdia took the opportunity to launch an armed uprising in western Georgia in an attempt to return to power. The Mkhedrioni played an important role in suppressing the uprising and were for a while given semi-official status as the "Georgian Rescue Corps". Russian intervention ensured Gamsakhurdia's defeat and on December 31 he reportedly committed suicide, though it has also been stated, and widely believed within Georgia, that he

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1440-403: The role of the interior forces under the new government. In 1993, worsening civil strife in Abkhazia prompted the Mkhedrioni and National Guard to launch a joint operation in the region to root out separatists and Gamsakhurdia supporters. This resulted in a disastrous defeat for the pro-government forces, who were driven out of Abkhazia along with virtually the entire ethnic Georgian population of

1485-401: The target. It was armoured so that it could not be destroyed en route. However, it was not driven by a person, instead operated by remote control from a safe distance. Prior to the 20th century, bombs planted in horse carts had been used in assassination plots, notably in the unsuccessful " machine infernale " attempt to kill Napoleon on 24 December 1800. The first car bomb may have been

1530-445: The tilt fuse is similar in operation to a mercury switch or medical tablet tube. One end of the fuse will be filled with mercury , while the other open end is wired with the ends of an open circuit to an electrical firing system. When the tilt fuse moves or is jerked, the supply of mercury will flow to the top of the tube and close the circuit. Thus, as the vehicle goes through the regular bumping and dipping that comes with driving over

1575-410: The underside of the car, underneath the passenger or driver's seat, or inside of the mudguard , detonators triggered by the opening of the vehicle door or by pressure applied to the brakes or accelerating pedals are also used. Bombs operating by the former method of fixation to the underside of the car more often than not make use of a device called a tilt fuse . A small tube made of glass or plastic,

1620-417: The vehicle (often as an assassination ) and those used as a means to kill, injure or damage people and buildings outside the vehicle. The latter type may be parked (the vehicle disguising the bomb and allowing the bomber to get away), or the vehicle might be used to deliver the bomb (often as part of a suicide bombing ). It is commonly used as a weapon of terrorism or guerrilla warfare to kill people near

1665-463: The vehicle's doors, starting the engine, remote detonation, depressing the accelerator or brake pedals, or simply lighting a fuse or setting a timing device. The gasoline in the vehicle's fuel tank may make the explosion of the bomb more powerful by dispersing and igniting the fuel. Mario Buda's improvised wagon used in the 1920 Wall Street bombing is considered a prototype of the car bomb. The first non-suicide car bombing "fully conceptualized as

1710-661: Was a Georgian politician, member of Parliament of Georgia , writer, thief-in-law and leader of the paramilitary organisation Mkhedrioni . Born in Khashuri , Georgia, Ioseliani majored in Oriental studies at Leningrad University but did not graduate. He staged a bank robbery in Leningrad in 1948, for which he served 17 years in a Soviet jail. Released in 1965, he later served another sentence for manslaughter . He eventually returned to his native Georgia and graduated from

1755-554: Was adopted by Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas , Fatah and Islamic Jihad , especially during the Second Intifada (2000–2005) . While not an adaptation of a people-carrying vehicle, the WW2 German Goliath remote control mine, shares many parallels with a vehicle-based IED . It approached a target (often a tank or another armoured vehicle) at some speed, and then exploded, destroying itself and

1800-399: Was detained on 15 November 1995 and held for three years pending trial, then on 10 November 1998 sentenced to 11 years for banditry, terrorism, and conspiring to kill Shevardnadze. He denied the charges and was eventually released in the spring of 2000 in a general amnesty of convicts. He suffered a heart attack on 26 February 2003 and died in a Tbilisi hospital a week later. He is buried in

1845-628: Was given a formal government position in September 1993 to enforce a national state of emergency in the Western Georgia amidst the Georgian Civil War . This gave him almost unlimited powers to detain people. He used these powers enthusiastically, imposing a severely repressive regime that was widely criticised by international human rights organisations. Supporters of the ousted Gamsakhurdia were vigorously targeted, especially in

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1890-495: Was located directly above Shevardnadze's and he was constantly surrounded with armed followers wherever he went. His actions earned him many enemies: on 13 June 1992, there was a failed assassination attempt against Ioseliani with a car bomb , resulting in the death of 5 people. Ioseliani played a major role in the War in Abkhazia , which ended in a crushing defeat for government and Mkhedrioni forces in September 1993. Despite this, he

1935-401: Was murdered. Mkhedrioni forces were alleged in press reports to be responsible for his death, but they denied this. The Mkhedrioni were subsequently given responsibility for rooting out "Zviadists" in western Georgia, which they did with a brutal efficiency that was widely criticised by foreign governments and international human rights organisations. Shevardnadze responded by gradually limiting

1980-486: Was one of the three leaders of the " Military Council " that ruled Georgia from January–March 1992. He subsequently became a powerful figure in the government of President Eduard Shevardnadze , who was forced to rely heavily on Mkhedrioni militiamen because of the weakness of the state security forces. Ioseliani made it clear who he thought was the senior partner: his office in the Georgian Parliament building

2025-570: Was outlawed by President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and he was imprisoned along with other Mkhedrioni members. In response, Ioseliani accused Gamsakhurdia of trying to take control of state media and silence rivals. In December 1991, Ioseliani escaped from prison and joined forces with rebel members of the Georgian National Guard to launch a violent coup d'état that forced President Zviad Gamsakhurdia out of office in January 1992. He

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