Incident Summary:
08/15/2011: On Monday, in Maiduguri, Borno, Nigeria, one militant attempted to detonate a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) at the police headquarters building. Nigerian police fired upon and killed the militant before the SVBIED could be detonated. The SVBIED was made from a Honda Accord car that had the registration number AP851ABJ, six 13.6 kilogram gas cylinders, each connected with wires, one air conditioner gas cylinder, two 25 liter jerry cans of fuel, one tin consisting of five liters of Abro, and one Acid Orange drum of 28 kilograms. No other casualties or damages occurred in the attempted bombing. No group claimed responsibility, but the militant group Boko Haram was thought to be responsible for the attack.
Overview
GTD ID:
201108150013
When:
2011-08-15
Country:
Nigeria
Region:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Borno
City:
Maiduguri
Location Details:
At the police headquarters building in Maiduguri, Borno, Nigeria.
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
No |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Police |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Borno State Police Headquarters |
| Specific Description |
The Borno State police headquarters building was targeted in the attack. |
| Nationality of Target |
Nigeria |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Vehicle |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| A Honda Accord sedan loaded with six 13.6 kilogram gas cylinders connected with wires, one air conditioner gas cylinder, two 25 liter jerry cans of fuel, one five liter tin of Abro, and one 28 kilogram Acid Orange drum, which was incapacitated by authorities, was used in the attack. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | Yes |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Boko Haram (suspected) |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
| Total Number of Injured |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Washington Post, "Police Shoot, Kill Man Trying to Drive Car Bomb into Northeast Nigeria Headquarters," Associated Press, August 15, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/police-shoot-kill-man-trying-to-drive-car-bomb-into-northeast-nigeria-headquarters/2011/08/15/gIQALSIrGJ_story.html. |
| Ibrahim Mshelizza, "Bomber Killed in Failed Attack on Nigerian Police," Reuters, August 15, 2011, http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE77E0L420110815. |
| Dauda Mbaya & Achor Abimaje, "Boko Haram: Suicide Bomber Killed in Maiduguri," Leadership, August 16, 2011, http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/3839/2011/08/16/boko_haram_suicide_bomber_killed_maiduguri.html. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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