The Erbil Bombings and Response: A Critical View

The roadblocks and barriers could be setup by strategically parking military and police vehicles (or any other similar object) and guarded with armed Peshmerga and/or police to defend against any subsequent attacks. Moreover, a standoff distance should be established to enable ‘scene management’ to safely control the incident.

The “first” responder at the scene, regardless of military rank or status, should begin by coordinating this with others on the site. Another issue, as seen on the clips, was the presence of countless civilians refusing police commands. This can be eliminated by arresting the civilians rushing to the scene in interest of public safety and for obstructing police in trying to secure the scene.

This will also isolate any subsequent planned attacks to the site of the first explosion, thereby reducing casualties among civilians at the scene. It is also imperative to educate the people on working with the police to prevent further loss of life by helping evacuate the area and to not amass together.

By stopping all vehicular traffic to the area, you are preventing any unauthorized traffic to the area thereby reducing chances of more victims, deaths, and damage to infrastructure. This will also mean having contingency plans for medical personnel to attend a specific location near the blast site to evacuate the first victims based on the criticalness of their injuries.

In closing, it is important to remember that the aim of terrorism is to create fear, confusion and chaos within society; therefore all efforts should be exerted to counter the ‘effectiveness’ of terrorism by training first responders to properly manage chaotic scenes of this nature, when and wherever they may occur. The dynamics of suicide terrorism and their operational strategy has truly changed in that the initial blast is used as bait to attack a larger crowd which will be followed by at least one subsequent bombing or firefight, if not more.

Ala Jaff is a practicing police and security professional in Canada. He holds a Police Foundations diploma and a BA in Law. He is currently working towards his Masters degree in Criminal Justice, Governance and Police Science.