Unlike the bombing methods used by Islamist groups in their confrontations with authorities in the 1990’s—which mainly involved planting bombs in cafes or next to building fences— today’s confrontations are witnessing the increased usage of car bombs. This is a new method for Egypt, but it is not a new one at all in the Middle East.

Unlike the bombing methods used by Islamist groups in their confrontations with authorities in the 1990’s—which mainly involved planting bombs in cafes or next to building fences— today’s confrontations are witnessing the increased usage of car bombs. This is a new method for Egypt, but it is not a new one at all in the Middle East.

However, the first use of a bomb was not in a car, a truck or even a motorcycle. It was something much bigger, and it was in a place relatively far from the Middle East and goes far back in history too.  When the Dutch forces were surrounded by the Spanish in Antwerp (which later become became Belgium), during the 16^th century and the Eighty Years War, the latter did not know that the ships approaching them were filled with gunpowder until they exploded. 

The second time this method was used came many years after this incident during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II and after more than ten years of the Hamidian Massacre against the Armenians, but before the passage of another ten years of repeating these same massacres by his brother, Mohammed V. A car exploded when he was coming out of one of Istanbul’s mosques and his convoy was targeted. However, this desperate Armenian attack and the first explosive car in history, which exploded in the year 1905, hadn’t been able to achieve its aims and the Sultan remained alive. 

After this attempt, the use of car bombs became more popular with the boom in the car industry. The first suicide bomb was in the United States in what is known as the Bath School disaster on May 18, 1927, when Andrew Kehoe exploded his bombed truck in a school yard, killing himself, 38 pupils and six adults. But Kohoe did not use gunpowder like the ancient Dutch. Instead he used dynamite because the hero of TNT bombed cars had not yet been born. 

In a strange paradox, the TNT abbreviation again brings us back to the Netherlands, not because of the bombed ship but rather because of the name of the express mail company named TNT, which was created in the 1850’s— one century before the discovery of TNT.  In addition to the name, the TNT Company and the TNT material have the same logo, and the yellow color.

TNT is actually an acronym, representing Trinitrotoluene, a chemical compound similar to many other compounds, which were discovered innocently, before being used in people’s battles. 

TNT was first prepared in 1863 by Joseph Wilbrand, a German chemist, and it was originally developed as a dye, not an explosive.  It was later used as a detector of chemical elements and continued to be an “innocent” compound— the United States did not even list TNT in its Explosives Act of 1875.

TNT was used in construction work (it is still used today for this purpose). However, the bloody conflicts that erupted in the beginning of the 20^th century made people explore the destructive nature of everything and they found it in the TNT, which was a safe substance to use, even in its liquid state. Moreover, its explosion power is not high. But, the Germans discovered many other usages of TNT, which gave them advantages in war.

German forces began using TNT in their artillery shells. These shells were able to pass through the armor of British ships prior to exploding, while the British shells exploded on contact, which made their bombs lose a big part of their destructive power.

It was then discovered that the lower sensitivity of TNT, compared to conventional explosives, gave it two advantages: first, it did not explode accidentally upon contact, like landmines, which sometimes kill those who plant them or pedestrians, as opposed to targets. Second, TNT could be mixed and incited to explode by strong shocks made by hitting a building or a gate, for example. The impact gives the TNT gains its maximum explosive power, which makes it the most suitable compound for car bombs, although its explosive capacity is only 2.8 MJ per kilogram, slightly less than gunpowder with a capacity of 3 MJ, and higher than a half of dynamite with a capacity of 7.5 MJ. But this difference is offset by the fact that TNT is appropriate for cars because the car fuel contains an explosive power reaching up to 47.2 MJ. This power, together with 50 kilograms of TNT gives the results we hear about every day in the news.   

In Iraq, in just three years – from March 2003 till June 2006 – 578 cars exploded.  The bad thing about this piece of information is that the use of TNT increased in the years that followed. It further increased with the withdrawal of the US troops from Iraq and it was used in the sectarian war that broke out in the country. However, Iraq is only one example in the Middle East. Bombed cars were used in Lebanon during the civil war from 1975 – 1990. They reappeared again in connection with the on-going conflict in Syria where car bombs are being exploded in various cities and neighborhoods, though at a lower rate than in Iraq.  In Egypt, the use of car bombs is still under control. One of the major attacks was the attempt to assassinate Mohammed Ibrahim, the Interior Minister last month, followed by the bombing that took place few days ago near a military intelligence building in Ismailia. However, the difference in the use of bombs in Middle East countries is only relative. From Turkey to Algeria, one can easily say the region is an ‘Exploding East.’