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[[File:Chinese infantry soldier preparing a suicide vest of Model 24 hand grenades at the Battle of Taierzhuang against Japanese Tanks.jpg|thumb|right|Chinese suicide bomber putting on an explosive vest made out of [[Model 24 grenade|Model 24 hand grenades]] to use in an attack on Japanese tanks at the [[Battle of Taierzhuang]] (1938)]] | [[File:Chinese infantry soldier preparing a suicide vest of Model 24 hand grenades at the Battle of Taierzhuang against Japanese Tanks.jpg|thumb|right|Chinese suicide bomber putting on an explosive vest made out of [[Model 24 grenade|Model 24 hand grenades]] to use in an attack on Japanese tanks at the [[Battle of Taierzhuang]] (1938)]] | ||
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Explosive Belt Found on Terrorist.jpg|thumb|right|A suicide vest captured by the | [[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Explosive Belt Found on Terrorist.jpg|thumb|right|A suicide vest captured by the Israel Defense Forces (2002)]] | ||
An '''explosive belt''' (also called '''suicide belt''', '''suicide vest''' or '''bomb vest''') is an [[improvised explosive device]], a belt or a vest packed with [[explosives]] and armed with a [[detonator]], worn by [[suicide bomber]]s. Explosive belts are usually packed with [[ball bearings]], [[nail (engineering)|nail]]s, [[screw]]s, bolts, and other objects that serve as [[Shrapnel (fragmentation)|shrapnel]] to maximize the number of casualties in the explosion. | An '''explosive belt''' (also called '''suicide belt''', '''suicide vest''' or '''bomb vest''') is an [[improvised explosive device]], a belt or a vest packed with [[explosives]] and armed with a [[detonator]], worn by [[suicide bomber]]s. Explosive belts are usually packed with [[ball bearings]], [[nail (engineering)|nail]]s, [[screw]]s, bolts, and other objects that serve as [[Shrapnel (fragmentation)|shrapnel]] to maximize the number of casualties in the explosion. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
The Chinese used explosive vests during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://war.163.com/15/0427/09/AO6TATTL00014OMD.html|title=台儿庄巷战:长官电令有敢退过河者 杀无赦_网易军事 |trans-title=Taierzhuang Street Fight: The Chief Executive Order has the courage to retreat to the river |last=网易|website=war.163.com |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619140144/http://war.163.com/15/0427/09/AO6TATTL00014OMD.html |archive-date=2018-06-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.88p4.com/2015/04/27/taierzhuang-street-fighting-executive-power-to-make-those-who-have-dared-to-retreat-across-the-river-unforgiven-124486.html|title=Taierzhuang street fighting : Executive power to make those who have dared to retreat across the river Unforgiven - Netease International News|first=Bun|last=Wong|language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020023846/http://www.88p4.com/2015/04/27/taierzhuang-street-fighting-executive-power-to-make-those-who-have-dared-to-retreat-across-the-river-unforgiven-124486.html |archive-date=2017-10-20 }}</ref> A Chinese soldier detonated a grenade vest and killed 20 Japanese at [[Defense of Sihang Warehouse#29 October|Sihang Warehouse]]. Chinese troops strapped explosives like grenade packs or dynamite to their bodies and threw themselves over Japanese tanks to blow them up.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Schaedler|first=Luc|title=Angry Monk: Reflections on Tibet: Literary, Historical, and Oral Sources for a Documentary Film|publisher=University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts|url=http://www.zora.uzh.ch/17710/3/Angry_Monk_Dissertation.pdf|type=Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zurich For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719204815/http://www.zora.uzh.ch/17710/3/Angry_Monk_Dissertation.pdf|archive-date=2014-07-19|year=2007|page=518|access-date=24 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> This tactic was used during the [[Battle of Shanghai]], where a Chinese suicide bomber stopped a Japanese tank column by exploding himself beneath the lead tank,<ref>{{cite book|title=Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze|first=Peter|last=Harmsen|edition=illustrated|year=2013|publisher=Casemate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpPUAgAAQBAJ&q=shanghai+grenade+tanks+japanese&pg=PT127|page=112|isbn=978-1612001678|access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> and at the [[Battle of Taierzhuang]], where Chinese troops rushed at Japanese tanks and blew themselves up with dynamite and grenades.<ref>{{cite journal |date=Summer 2001 |title=Chinese Tank Forces and Battles before 1949 |url=http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/emagazine-3/tanks/Chinese_Tank_Forces_and_Battles_before_1945_ed.htm |journal=TANKS! E-Magazine |issue=#4 |access-date=2 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807012533/http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/emagazine-3/tanks/Chinese_Tank_Forces_and_Battles_before_1945_ed.htm |archive-date=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Xin Hui |date=August 1, 2002 |title=Xinhui Presents: Chinese Tank Forces and Battles before 1949 |url=http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/Newsletter1-8-2/xinhui.htm |journal=Newsletter 1-8-2002 Articles |access-date=2014-08-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808050643/http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/Newsletter1-8-2/xinhui.htm |archive-date=2014-08-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=China Condensed: 5000 Years of History & Culture|first=Siew Chey|last=Ong|edition=illustrated|year=2005|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bt7q8hfiZ4gC&q=taierzhuang+suicide+bombers&pg=PA94|page=94|isbn=9812610677|access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= http://numistamp.com/Taierzhuang-1938----Stalingrad-1942-(Page-1).php | | The Chinese used explosive vests during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://war.163.com/15/0427/09/AO6TATTL00014OMD.html|title=台儿庄巷战:长官电令有敢退过河者 杀无赦_网易军事 |trans-title=Taierzhuang Street Fight: The Chief Executive Order has the courage to retreat to the river |last=网易|website=war.163.com |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619140144/http://war.163.com/15/0427/09/AO6TATTL00014OMD.html |archive-date=2018-06-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.88p4.com/2015/04/27/taierzhuang-street-fighting-executive-power-to-make-those-who-have-dared-to-retreat-across-the-river-unforgiven-124486.html|title=Taierzhuang street fighting : Executive power to make those who have dared to retreat across the river Unforgiven - Netease International News|first=Bun|last=Wong|language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020023846/http://www.88p4.com/2015/04/27/taierzhuang-street-fighting-executive-power-to-make-those-who-have-dared-to-retreat-across-the-river-unforgiven-124486.html |archive-date=2017-10-20 }}</ref> A Chinese soldier detonated a grenade vest and killed 20 Japanese at [[Defense of Sihang Warehouse#29 October|Sihang Warehouse]]. Chinese troops strapped explosives like grenade packs or dynamite to their bodies and threw themselves over Japanese tanks to blow them up.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Schaedler|first=Luc|title=Angry Monk: Reflections on Tibet: Literary, Historical, and Oral Sources for a Documentary Film|publisher=University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts|url=http://www.zora.uzh.ch/17710/3/Angry_Monk_Dissertation.pdf|type=Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zurich For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719204815/http://www.zora.uzh.ch/17710/3/Angry_Monk_Dissertation.pdf|archive-date=2014-07-19|year=2007|page=518|access-date=24 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> This tactic was used during the [[Battle of Shanghai]], where a Chinese suicide bomber stopped a Japanese tank column by exploding himself beneath the lead tank,<ref>{{cite book|title=Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze|first=Peter|last=Harmsen|edition=illustrated|year=2013|publisher=Casemate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpPUAgAAQBAJ&q=shanghai+grenade+tanks+japanese&pg=PT127|page=112|isbn=978-1612001678|access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> and at the [[Battle of Taierzhuang]], where Chinese troops rushed at Japanese tanks and blew themselves up with dynamite and grenades.<ref>{{cite journal |date=Summer 2001 |title=Chinese Tank Forces and Battles before 1949 |url=http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/emagazine-3/tanks/Chinese_Tank_Forces_and_Battles_before_1945_ed.htm |journal=TANKS! E-Magazine |issue=#4 |access-date=2 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807012533/http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/emagazine-3/tanks/Chinese_Tank_Forces_and_Battles_before_1945_ed.htm |archive-date=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Xin Hui |date=August 1, 2002 |title=Xinhui Presents: Chinese Tank Forces and Battles before 1949 |url=http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/Newsletter1-8-2/xinhui.htm |journal=Newsletter 1-8-2002 Articles |access-date=2014-08-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808050643/http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/Stories/Newsletter1-8-2/xinhui.htm |archive-date=2014-08-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=China Condensed: 5000 Years of History & Culture|first=Siew Chey|last=Ong|edition=illustrated|year=2005|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bt7q8hfiZ4gC&q=taierzhuang+suicide+bombers&pg=PA94|page=94|isbn=9812610677|access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= http://numistamp.com/Taierzhuang-1938----Stalingrad-1942-(Page-1).php |chapter= Taierzhuang 1938 – Stalingrad 1942 |last1= Olsen |first1= Lance |date= 2012 |title= Numistamp |publisher= Clear Mind Publishing |isbn= 978-0-9838435-9-7 |access-date= 24 April 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140426040700/http://numistamp.com/Taierzhuang-1938----Stalingrad-1942-%28Page-1%29.php |archive-date= 26 April 2014 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=China Condensed: 5,000 Years of History & Culture|author=Dr Ong Siew Chey|year=2011|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|isbn=978-9814312998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdKIAAAAQBAJ&q=japanese+tanks+suicide+bombers&pg=PA79|page=79|edition=reprint|access-date=April 24, 2014}}</ref> During one incident at Taierzhuang, Chinese suicide bombers destroyed four Japanese tanks with grenade bundles.<ref>{{cite book|title=International Press Correspondence, Volume 18|year=1938|publisher=Richard Neumann|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRlWAAAAYAAJ&q=Thus,+for+instance,+a+group+of+Chinese+soldiers,+in+spite+of+heavy+artillery+fire,+attacked+a+column+of+Japanese+tanks+with+hand-grenades+and+destroyed+four+tanks,+sacrificing+their+own+lives.+These+courageous+soldiers+thereby+opened+the+way+for+the+Chinese+troops.+According+to+reports+from+Shanghai,+the+losses+of+the+Japanese+army+operating+on+the+eastern+front+amounted+in+February+to+5,400+killed+and+12,700+wounded.+400+oificers+were+killed+or+wounded.+In+March+35+Japanese|page=447|access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The people's war|first=Israel|last=Epstein|year=1939|publisher=V. Gollancz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TevqAAAAIAAJ&q=The+men+in+the+trenches+waited+till+the+tanks+came+close,+then+jumped+out+and+threw+bundles+of+hand-+grenades+under+their+wheels+and+into+their+ports.+Four+tanks+were+destroyed,+neatly+pierced+by+anti-tank+shells,+and+nine+others+were|page=172|access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> | ||
The use of [[Suicide attack|suicidal attacks]] to inflict damage upon an enemy predates the [[Second World War]], in which [[Kamikaze#First unit|Kamikaze units]] (suicidal air attacks) and [[Kaiten]] ("living torpedoes") were used to attack [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces. Japanese soldiers routinely detonated themselves by attacking Allied tanks while carrying antitank mines, magnetic demolition charges, hand grenades and other explosive devices.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} | The use of [[Suicide attack|suicidal attacks]] to inflict damage upon an enemy predates the [[Second World War]], in which [[Kamikaze#First unit|Kamikaze units]] (suicidal air attacks) and [[Kaiten]] ("living torpedoes") were used to attack [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces. Japanese soldiers routinely detonated themselves by attacking Allied tanks while carrying antitank mines, magnetic demolition charges, hand grenades and other explosive devices.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} | ||
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A "loaded" vest may weigh between {{convert|5|and|20|kg|lb|round=5}} and may be hidden under thick clothes, usually jackets or snow coats. | A "loaded" vest may weigh between {{convert|5|and|20|kg|lb|round=5}} and may be hidden under thick clothes, usually jackets or snow coats. | ||
A suicide [[vest]] may cover the entire stomach and usually has shoulder straps. | A suicide [[Waistcoat|vest]] may cover the entire stomach and usually has shoulder straps. | ||
A common [[security]] procedure against suspected suicide bombers is to move the suspect at least {{convert|15|m|ft|-1}} away from other people, then ask them to remove their upper clothing. While this procedure is relatively uncontroversial for use on males, it may cause an issue when dealing with females suspected of being [[suicide bombers]]. Male security personnel may be reluctant to inspect or strip-search females, and can be accused of sexual harassment after having done so.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.discovery.com/human/life/sochi-suicide-bomber-threat-why-terrorists-use-women-140122.htm |title=Sochi Suicide Bomber Threat: Why Terrorists Use Women |last1=Niiler |first1=Eric |date=Jan 22, 2014 |website=Discovery.net |publisher=Discovery Communications |access-date=2014-04-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125061139/http://news.discovery.com/human/life/sochi-suicide-bomber-threat-why-terrorists-use-women-140122.htm |archive-date=2015-11-25}}</ref> Alternatively, an [[infrared detector]] can be used. There are assertions that using a [[millimeter wave scanner]] would be viable for the task, but the concept has been disputed. | A common [[security]] procedure against suspected suicide bombers is to move the suspect at least {{convert|15|m|ft|-1}} away from other people, then ask them to remove their upper clothing. While this procedure is relatively uncontroversial for use on males, it may cause an issue when dealing with females suspected of being [[suicide bombers]]. Male security personnel may be reluctant to inspect or strip-search females, and can be accused of sexual harassment after having done so.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.discovery.com/human/life/sochi-suicide-bomber-threat-why-terrorists-use-women-140122.htm |title=Sochi Suicide Bomber Threat: Why Terrorists Use Women |last1=Niiler |first1=Eric |date=Jan 22, 2014 |website=Discovery.net |publisher=Discovery Communications |access-date=2014-04-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125061139/http://news.discovery.com/human/life/sochi-suicide-bomber-threat-why-terrorists-use-women-140122.htm |archive-date=2015-11-25}}</ref> Alternatively, an [[infrared detector]] can be used. There are assertions that using a [[millimeter wave scanner]] would be viable for the task, but the concept has been disputed. | ||
Latest revision as of 15:38, 19 November 2025
Template:Short description Template:Refimprove
An explosive belt (also called suicide belt, suicide vest or bomb vest) is an improvised explosive device, a belt or a vest packed with explosives and armed with a detonator, worn by suicide bombers. Explosive belts are usually packed with ball bearings, nails, screws, bolts, and other objects that serve as shrapnel to maximize the number of casualties in the explosion.
History
The Chinese used explosive vests during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[1][2] A Chinese soldier detonated a grenade vest and killed 20 Japanese at Sihang Warehouse. Chinese troops strapped explosives like grenade packs or dynamite to their bodies and threw themselves over Japanese tanks to blow them up.[3] This tactic was used during the Battle of Shanghai, where a Chinese suicide bomber stopped a Japanese tank column by exploding himself beneath the lead tank,[4] and at the Battle of Taierzhuang, where Chinese troops rushed at Japanese tanks and blew themselves up with dynamite and grenades.[5][6][7][8][9] During one incident at Taierzhuang, Chinese suicide bombers destroyed four Japanese tanks with grenade bundles.[10][11]
The use of suicidal attacks to inflict damage upon an enemy predates the Second World War, in which Kamikaze units (suicidal air attacks) and Kaiten ("living torpedoes") were used to attack Allied forces. Japanese soldiers routinely detonated themselves by attacking Allied tanks while carrying antitank mines, magnetic demolition charges, hand grenades and other explosive devices.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Description
The explosive belt usually consists of several cylinders filled with explosive (de facto pipe bombs), or in more sophisticated versions with plates of explosive. The explosive is surrounded by a fragmentation jacket that produces the shrapnel responsible for most of the bomb's lethality, effectively making the jacket a crude, body-worn, Claymore mine. Once the vest is detonated, the explosion resembles an omnidirectional shotgun blast. The most dangerous and the most widely used shrapnel are steel balls Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter.[12] Other shrapnel material can be anything of suitable size and hardness, most often nails, screws, nuts, and thick wire. Shrapnel is responsible for about 90% of all casualties caused by this kind of device.
A "loaded" vest may weigh between Script error: No such module "convert". and may be hidden under thick clothes, usually jackets or snow coats.
A suicide vest may cover the entire stomach and usually has shoulder straps.
A common security procedure against suspected suicide bombers is to move the suspect at least Script error: No such module "convert". away from other people, then ask them to remove their upper clothing. While this procedure is relatively uncontroversial for use on males, it may cause an issue when dealing with females suspected of being suicide bombers. Male security personnel may be reluctant to inspect or strip-search females, and can be accused of sexual harassment after having done so.[13] Alternatively, an infrared detector can be used. There are assertions that using a millimeter wave scanner would be viable for the task, but the concept has been disputed.
The discovery of remains as well as incidentally unexploded belts or vests can offer forensic clues to the investigation after the attack.[14]
Forensic investigation
Suicide bombers who wear the vests are often obliterated by the explosion; the best evidence of their identity is the head, which often remains relatively intact because it is separated and thrown clear off the body by the explosion. Journalist Joby Warrick conjectured: "The vest's tight constraints and the positioning of the explosive pouches would channel the energy of the blast outward, toward whoever stood directly in front of him. Some of that energy wave would inevitably roll upward, ripping the bomber's body apart at its weakest point, between the neck bones and lower jaw. It accounts for the curious phenomenon in which suicide bombers' heads are severed clean at the moment of detonation and are later found in a state of perfect preservation several metres away from the torso's shredded remains."[15]
References
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- ↑ AFP/NEWSCORE "Ugandan police find suicide vest, hunts suspects". July 13, 2010, New York Post. Retrieved ?
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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