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#REDIRECT [[Animal-borne bomb attacks]]
There have been at least two documented incidents of '''[[donkey]]s''' being used to deliver [[improvised explosive device|bombs]]. Both occurred in [[Middle East]]ern conflicts in the [[2000s]].
==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:
:''"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 anybody but itself. The incident, along with a number of similar incidents involving dogs, fuelled 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. To one official, this was a simple variation of using "mentally retarded people for operations during the elections." A colonel added that "using people and animals" was a terrorist tactic that seemed to be replacing "[[car bombs]]."
==See also==
* [[Exploding animal]]
===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]]
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