Incident Summary:
10/16/2008: On Tuesday, Taliban militants ambushed and hijacked a bus on the main highway in Maywand, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents pulled some 50 passengers off the bus and marched them away to an unspecified area where they beheaded as many as 30 of them after accusing them of being army soldiers traveling in civilian clothes. The next day on 10/17/2008 on Wednesday, ten of the hostages were released along with the bus that was taken. Two days later on 10/18/2008 on Thursday, local police retrieved six bodies that had been beheaded, mutilated and dumped. Police received information that 24 other people had been killed but had yet to find their bodies. On 10/19/2008 on Sunday, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the incident on behalf of the group stating that 27 passengers had been taken from the bus and killed after appearing before a Taliban court, however the status of the remaining 34 hostages is unknown.
Overview
GTD ID:
200810160005
When:
2008-10-16
Country:
Afghanistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Kandahar
City:
Near Maywand
Location Details:
The attack took place on the main highway in Maywand, Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
Afghan civilian passengers were also targeted. |
Nationality of Target |
Japan |
Target Type: Transportation |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
An Afghan passenger bus was targeted |
Nationality of Target |
Afghanistan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
50 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Outcome |
Combination |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Melee |
Knife or Other Sharp Object |
Weapon Details |
An unknown sharp weapon was used in the melee attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The available sources listed the fatalities for these attacks from six to 27, so these figures have been averaged in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. Ten of the 50 Hostages were released on 10/17/2008 on Wednesday a day after the hijacking of the bus and the hostage taking of the passengers. On 10/18/2008 on Thursday, local police retrieved six bodies that had been beheaded, mutilated and dumped, and even though the police received information that 24 others had been killed, their bodies had not been found, so the status of the remaining 34 hostages is unknown. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Taliban |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Unknown) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
17 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
17 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
ABC News, "Afghan Taleban Say They Shot 27 Afghan Army Soldiers Taken Off Buses," October 19, 2008, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/20/2395308.htm?section=world. |
Carlotta Gall and Taimoor Shah, "Taliban Insurgents in Afghanistan Stop Bus and Behead as Many as 30 Passengers," Lexis Nexis, The New York Times, October 20, 2008. |
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