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#REDIRECT [[Animal-borne bomb attacks]]
{{afd-mergeto|Exploding animal|Exploding donkey|24 September 2009}}
{{Unreferenced|date=June 2008}}
There have been several documented incidents of [[donkey]]s and [[mule]]s being used to deliver [[improvised explosive device|bombs]].
==Lebanon==
After the [[1982 invasion of Lebanon|1982 invasion]] of [[Lebanon]] by [[Israel]], [[Shiite]] militants turned to suicide attacks to drive out the Israeli army. On one occasion, a mule was used as a bomb carrier instead. Other times, bombers were intercepted with explosives hidden on themselves while they were riding donkeys.
==West Bank==
One donkey was exploded near a checkpoint in the [[West Bank]] town of [[Bethlehem]] on [[January 26]], [[2003]]. No humans died in the attack, and it was uncertain as to whether the attack was meant specifically to kill [[Israel]]i soldiers; the attack coincided with Israeli advances into the [[Gaza Strip]].
The attack did provoke a response from [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals|PETA]] president [[Ingrid Newkirk]], who, after receiving many complaints, wrote a letter to [[Palestinian territories|Palestinian]] President [[Yasser Arafat]] asking him to encourage others to "leave the animals out of this conflict". In the letter, she cited historical examples of [[United States|US]], [[United Kingdom|UK]], and [[Al Qaeda]]-sponsored abuses of other animals in conflicts, specifically noting [[dog]]s were simply left in [[Vietnam]] by the US during the [[Vietnam War]], despite the fact that they were "loyal." She thus came to the conclusion that:
{{quote|Animals claim no nation. They are in perpetual [[involuntary servitude]] to all humankind, and although they pose no threat and own no weapons, human beings always win in the undeclared war against them. For animals, there is no [[Geneva Convention]] and no peace treaty—just our mercy.}}
==Iraq==
In [[2004]], during the [[Iraq War]], a donkey in [[Ramadi]], [[Iraq]] was loaded with explosives and set off towards a US-run checkpoint. It exploded before it was able to injure or kill anyone but itself. The incident, along with a number of similar incidents involving dogs, fueled fears of terrorist practices of using living animals as weapons, a change from an older practice of using the bodies of dead animals to hold explosives.
==See also==
* [[Exploding animal]]
* [[Exploding sheep]]
==References==
<references/>
* [[CBS]] news: [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/27/world/main538044.shtml Israel Moves Deep Into Gaza] January 26, 2003.
* [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals|PETA]] [http://www.peta.org/feat/arafat/ Leave the Animals in Peace: PETA's letter to Yasser Arafat] February 3, 2003.
* [[The Standard]] (originally from [[The Los Angeles Times]]): [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Focus/GH12Dh02.html Dogs of war can be friend or foe] August 12, 2005.
{{Exploding organisms}}
[[Category:Exploding animals|Donkey, exploding]]
[[Category:Equidae]]
[[Category:Equine welfare]]
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