Car bomb? Or something else?

I know nothing about explosives. At all. Nor do I pretend to.

I've just seen this, the boom comes at 32 seconds in.

blogs.aljazeera.com...

A car bomb has struck near the Syrian northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 60 members of President Bashar al-Assad's troops, activists told Al Jazeera.

Monday's blast, carried out by a jihadi group affiliated with al-Qaeda, hit near a military complex in the town of al-Douwairina near Aleppo's international airport, Mohammad al-Hadi, an activist in the city, said.

The blast was one of the largest attacks targetting regime forces. Activists on social media posted the following video that purports to show the moment of the explosion.

Does that look like a car bomb?

Can anyone who knows more about these things confirm or deny that it might be or might it be something else? I know there are military and ex military on here so would love an informed opinion.

Thanks.

reply to post by khimbar


Most definitely could be a car bomb. I see nothing suspicious to suggest it was anything other than what was reported. Car bombs can be massive, just look at the OKC bombing. Size only depends on the amount of explosives used and you can pack a lot of boom in even a small car.

reply to post by khimbar


I don't see anything to suggest it wasn't a car bomb.

Lets be clear. a car bomb is not a device that turns your car into a explosive device. A Car bomb is a bomb, stuffed into a car. That's it. You can stuff a heck of a lot of fertilizer in a car, just think what you could cram in there using conventional explosives like plastic explosives or even dynamite.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


A favorite in the ME is artillery shells with the tip removed and plastic explosives and detonators put in it's place. It turns the HE in the artillery shell plus the propellant charge into an stationary explosive device. They typically daisy chain a dozen or so together in the trunk which makes for a pretty big boom.

Ta both.

Just satisfying my enquiring mind.

reply to post by khimbar


The part where you see the dust kicked up before you hear the boom is from the shockwave traveling faster than the sound. An extreme amount of energy is released immediately even from a small explosion which pushes debris and shrapnel supersonic. Usually if you hear the boom you survived the blast, unless something collapses on you or you bleed out from a shrapnel wound. People that are killed immediately by the explosion probably never hear the boom associated with it. Just the pressure from the shockwave will blow their eardrums out and turn their insides to mush if the shrapnel doesn't get them. It's not s pretty way to die but if you're in the immediate blast radius it's almost instantaneous. Shrapnel wounds are the worst part cuz you have to bleed out before death comes. Suicide bombers never hear or feel a thing.

Originally posted by EViLKoNCEPTz
reply to post by khimbar

 

The part where you see the dust kicked up before you hear the boom is from the shockwave traveling faster than the sound. An extreme amount of energy is released immediately even from a small explosion which pushes debris and shrapnel supersonic. Usually if you hear the boom you survived the blast, unless something collapses on you or you bleed out from a shrapnel wound. People that are killed immediately by the explosion probably never hear the boom associated with it. Just the pressure from the shockwave will blow their eardrums out and turn their insides to mush if the shrapnel doesn't get them. It's not s pretty way to die but if you're in the immediate blast radius it's almost instantaneous. Shrapnel wounds are the worst part cuz you have to bleed out before death comes. Suicide bombers never hear or feel a thing.

edit on 6/17/2013 by EViLKoNCEPTz because: (no reason given)

You just reminded me of why i will never live in the M.E., or Israel. This stuff happens all the time, and living in fear is not what i call living. Worst part is, someone could turn your car into a bomb, and use you as a bomber, totally unaware that when you get near a good area someone will detonate you.

Definitely some sort of conventional explosion.

There is no way of telling what caused it.

Could very well have been a VBIED.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


Yes definitely not the conditions for comfortable living. To make a car bomb that would do damage the owner would know if they happened to look in the trunk. But if you don't use your trunk often you could definitely end up someone's weapon. I wouldn't want to live there. If I had to live there I'd be so paranoid my head would spin off.

By the looks of the building there before the bomb detonates, this isn't the first time something blew up in the vicinity.

Roof hanging down, rebar exposed. Looks like the civil war is going on around there.

Some pics.

LINK