How suicide cars and trucks made the battle of Mosul so bloody

Airstrikes target Isis positions on the edge of the Old City in Mosul, Iraq, this month. Photo / AP file

By Thomas Gibbons-Neff

To carry out some of its bloodiest attacks, Isis (Islamic State) has weaponised everyday vehicles for use as precision-guided munitions.

The militants deployed a steady stream of these suicide car bombs as the US-led coalition began its campaign to push the militants out of Iraq and Syria.

This month, soon after Iraqi forces declared that they had retaken the city of Mosul, police put some of the confiscated vehicles on display.

The vehicles were primarily used in two ways in Mosul.

First, as a defensive tool: If advancing Iraqi forces broke through a certain barrier, they often were met with a barrage of the vehicles.

The second use of the car bombs was more offensive in nature. They usually led the militants' attacks and, more often than not, were parked in alleys and garages to be used to ambush unsuspecting forces.

Homemade armour protected the driver - and the explosives arranged in the rear - from small arms and rocket fire, forcing Iraqi troops to use heavier and subsequently slower weapons to target them.

US airstrikes were often unable to target the vehicles as they sped through the narrow streets of Mosul. Instead, aircraft would drop bombs to destroy parts of the road, making the vehicles swerve and slow down as they approached Iraqi lines.

The vehicles were anything but inconspicuous, so the terrorist group has since started painting the armour to make them blend in.

In Syria, some have been seen with the shell of a vehicle bolted over the armour to make car bombs harder to spot.

A destroyed street on the west side of Mosul, Iraq. Photo / AP file