8,605 research outputs found
A Terrorism Analysis of the April 14, 2014, Bus Terminal Bombing in Abuja, Nigeria
This Transportation Security Perspective is the fourth in a continuing series produced by the National Transportation Safety and Security Center of the Mineta Transportation Institute. These examine major terrorist attacks and trends in terrorists targeting surface transportation. Previous perspectives include the terrorist bombings in Volgograd, Russia; the assault on passengers at the Kunming train station in China; and the reported plot against the Metro in Los Angeles
Train Wrecks and Track Attacks: An Analysis of Attempts by Terrorists and Other Extremists to Derail Trains or Disrupt Rail Transportation
Attempts to sabotage rails and deliberately derail passenger trains have a long history in conventional and guerrilla warfare as well as during some particularly bitter labor disputes in the past. Since the 1970s, political fanatics have become a major adversary. Terrorists have sought to derail trains to achieve high-casualty events, while anarchists and issue oriented extremists have attacked rails to attract attention to their causes and impose economic damage. In this report, we examine the more than a thousand attempts to derail trains and to attack rail infrastructure to discern overall patterns and trends. We then look at four subsets of attacks in greater detail: those by Indiaâs Maoist guerrillas; those by separatist insurgents in Thailand; those by various jihadist groups worldwide; and those by an assemblage of anarchists, environmental and similar cause-oriented extremists in Europe. How do these adversaries compare in terms of tactics, success rates, lethality, and other factors? Do their different objectives and circumstances affect their actions? Perhaps most important, is there evidence that they become more effective and lethal over time
Troubling Trends in Terrorism and Attacks on Surface Transportation: The Outlook Is Grim, but People Still Have a Great Deal of Control
This Transportation Security Perspective is the seventh in a continuing series produced by the National Transportation Safety and Security Center of the Mineta Transportation Institute. These examine major terrorist attacks and trends in terrorists targeting surface transportation
âSmashing Into Crowdsâ -- An Analysis of Vehicle Ramming Attacks
Vehicle ramming attacks are not new. But since 2010 Jihadists have urged their use. Is this the wave of the future, or a terrorist fad? To answer this and other questions the authors expanded and updated the database used in their May 2018 MTI Security Perspective entitled An Analysis of Vehicle Ramming as a Terrorist Threat to include 184 attacks since January 1, 1970. They also reviewed literature and examined some cases in detail. This MTI Security perspective indicates that while not new, vehicle rammings are more frequent and lethal since 2014, although the number of attacks seems to be dropping in 2019. Still it is too early to know if this is because of government countermeasures or because it is a fad that has come and gone. They also found that: (a) the majority of attacks occur in developed countries like the US and Europe; (b) though not more lethal than some other tactics they can be easily carried out by those who cannot get bombs or guns in a target-rich environment that is difficult to protect; (c) while Jihadists (responsible for only 19% of the attacks) have exhorted their use since 2010, it isnât clear these calls have been successful -- instead the pattern of attacks suggest a kind of wider contagion; (d) attackers plowing vehicles into public gatherings and pedestrianized streets are the most lethal, particularly the attacks are planned and the drivers rent or steal large trucks or vans driven at speed; and finally, (e) government authorities cannot prevent these attacks but can and are doing things to prevent them and mitigate fatalities when they occur
PUMA Footprints: linking theory and craft skill in usability evaluation
âFootprintsâ are marks or features of a design that alert the analyst to the possible existence of
usability difficulties caused by violations of design principles. PUMA Footprints make an explicit link between
the theory underlying a Programmable User Model and the design principles that can be derived from that
theory. While principles are widely presented as being intuitively obvious, it is desirable that they should have a
theoretical basis. However, working directly with theory tends to be time-consuming, and demands a high level
of skill. PUMA footprints offer a theory-based justification for various usability principles, with guidelines on
detecting violations of those principles
Interaction design issues for car navigation systems
We describe a study on the interaction design of in-car
navigation systems. It focused on a commercial
product. Critical incident analysis was performed
based on natural use of the system by a usability
analyst. A cognitive walkthrough was then performed
based on actual scenarios from the natural use. This
is a non-classic application of cognitive walkthrough.
It allowed anecdotal critical incidents to be
theoretically grounded. We draw conclusions about
the interaction design of car navigation systems
By the Numbers: Russiaâs Terrorists Increasingly Target Transportation
If body count is the terroristsâ goal, then surface transportation provides an attractive targetâ crowds of strangers in confined environments. While Umarovâs Chechen predecessors carried out spectacular hostage seizures at hospitals, a primary school, and even at a theater in the heart of Moscow, trains, subways, and buses have featured heavily among their targets
The Terrorist Attack in Kunming, China: Does It Indicate a Growing Threat Worldwide?
At 9:00 pm on March 1, 2014, six men and two women, dressed in black and wielding knives, arrived at the Kunming train station, one of the largest in southwest China, and began slashing people at random. Before authorities could stop them, the assailants had killed 29 people and wounded another 143. It was the second worst terrorist attack in the history of the Peopleâs Republic of China, not including a series of bombings in Shijiazhuang in 1998, which killed 108 people. These, however, were carried out for personal, not political reasons. It was also Chinaâs second most lethal transportation attacks
Mineta Transportation Institute Says Subways Are Still in Terroristsâ Sights
The FBI arrested a California National Guard reservist on March 17 as he headed for the Canadian border on his way to Syria. Once in Syria, Nicholas Michael Teausant, who is also a student at San Joaquin Delta Community College in Stockton CA, planned to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Although he had never attended the armyâs basic training course and was in the process of being discharged by the National Guard for failing to meet âbasic education requirements,â Teausant thought he could teach the Syrian jihadists shooting skills and urban warfare tactic
An Analysis of Vehicle Ramming as a Terrorist Threat
Ramming attacks in which drivers deliberately plow their vehicles into public gatherings, pedestrians, or bicyclists, have become an increasingly common terrorist tactic. This MTI Security Perspective, by Brian Michael Jenkins and Bruce R. Butterworth analyzes 78 vehicular attacks between January 1973 and April 2018. According to their analysis, it is a growing trend, and a frightening one. The 78 attacks led to 281 deaths and around 1,200 injuries. Sixteen attacks took place between 1973 and 2007, while 62 took place between 2008 and April 2018. Thirty of these occurred in 2017 and the first four months of 2018 alone
- âŠ