Footage recorded during the 2017 Battle for Mosul captures the moment a massive suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device detonates in the center of the city.

One of the Islamic State's greatest weapon systems was also a key indicator as to why they were unable to hold onto any territory. For some reason, Islamic State fighters thought being packed into an overt car bomb and sent towards Iraqi and Kurdish tanks and missiles was some higher form of honor. Unfortunately for the suicide bombers, they often failed to reach their target as rockets, missiles, and tank main guns were able to destroy them long before they ever got to their target. Incompetence makes it very difficult to strategically meet military objectives, and this video is a direct display of just that, incompetence.

The primary reason a lot of these car bombs failed is due to the way the Islamic State dressed them up. Sure, a percentage of these armored SVBIEDs made it to their intended target, but I'd wager a majority of them were destroyed en route to their target because the Islamic State entirely forgot the most deadly part of improvised explosive devices. You're not supposed to see them until it's too late.

This video, which was recorded during the 2017 Battle for Mosul, shows exactly how overt the Islamic State was with their car bombs towards the end of their reign of terror. For those of you who are out of the loop, the Battle for Mosul is widely known as the turning point for the Islamic State and the beginning of their downfall. The battle itself saw members of the Iraqi Army, Kurdish YPG/YPJ and American Special Operations troops conducting a large scale assault on the Islamic State held city of Mosul. Fighting here began in October of 2016, and was officially declared over in July of 2017. To this day, the extent of the American Special Operations community's involvement in the battle is unknown and will likely remain under wraps for the foreseeable future.

The video above is one of dozens of car bomb attacks conducted by the Islamic State throughout the entirety of the months long battle. Judging from the signature of the explosion and style of vehicle used, we can guess that a majority of the bomb's explosive power was in some sort of liquid fuel being stored on the rear tank of the vehicle. While this certainly caused a cinematic explosion, it is unlikely that the blast itself produced much damage at all. Certainly, any unprotected individuals in the blast radius may have been burned, but I doubt this vehicle was detonated next to a formation of Iraqi troops in the open.

From this footage alone, we can't tell if the vehicle was able to connect with the Islamic State's target. I also don't recognize this specific blast from any other SVBIED footage recorded throughout the battle. That said, we have loads of people who have watched a large number of the SVBIED attacks from that battle specifically on the site, so if you recognize this blast from other SVBIED attack footage, go ahead and let us know down in the comments section so we can get a link added.