New terror V-BY-ED, the entire car becomes a bomb, metal parts fly like bullets

The i20 used in the New Delhi attack and the Ford EcoSports-Dzire used by the armed group are both very ordinary cars.

The horrific November 10 blast at the Red Fort in New Delhi, India, has brought to light a new tactic of the armed group-VBIED-Vehicular-Borne Improvised Explosive Device. It is also called a car bomb or car bomb. That evening, a Hyundai i20 car was filled with ammonium nitrate-fuel oil and exploded, killing 13 people.

Initial studies have shown that V-BY-ED is the most lethal attack technique, because in it the entire car acts as a bomb and its metal pieces and parts are scattered around, causing massive casualties. In this, the entire car becomes a huge explosive device. When a vehicle is loaded with high-explosives and hit at a target, every part of the vehicle—the engine block, body panels, wheels, doors, even the smallest metal screws—turns into deadly shrapnel at the moment of the explosion. These metal pieces can fly around at high speed and cause extensive damage to an area of ​​several hundred meters around. NDTV reports.

Researchers say that this 'multiplier effect', that is, the explosion and the high-speed metal shrapnel working together, makes it much more lethal than a regular IED or bomb. As a result, V-by-EDs not only destroy the target but also hit the surrounding people, buildings, vehicles and infrastructure at multiple levels simultaneously, which has also created an extreme challenge for the security forces.

According to experts, these attacks are extremely difficult to prevent in urban or densely populated areas. The cars used in these attacks are usually of such common models that they cannot be distinguished among millions of cars. The i20 used in the New Delhi attack and the Ford EcoSports-Dzire used by the militants are both very common cars.

India is already familiar with V-BY-EDs. 40 jawans were killed in the Pulwama attack in Kashmir in 2019 using V-BY-EDs. In 2022, another car bomb blast in Coimbatore killed one person.

How the car entered the Red Fort area: The suicide bomber, Dr. Umar Mohammad, drove from Faridabad through the Badarpur border and entered New Delhi at 8:13 am. Its driver, Dr. Umar, entered the Red Fort parking lot around 3 pm and stayed there for 3 hours. Police question - how was the car not detected despite such security? If explosives are hidden inside the car in a high-security area, it is difficult to detect it during normal checking or searching. And this is the biggest challenge.