'PIRA Under Car Booby Trap'

Colour photolithograph security poster by and after C S Graphics, published by the Ministry of Defence, London, 1989 (c).

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) are often seen as the pioneers of the vehicle borne improvised explosive device, or car bomb. The latter was first used in Northern Ireland in 1972. Vehicles made devices easy to transport and conceal, and enhanced the impact of the blast when detonated.

This poster shows the increasing threat of victim operated car bombs, which targeted specific soldiers or police officers.