AMU Homeland Security Intelligence Opinion Terrorism

Body Cavity Bombs Make the News – Again

By William Tucker

It looks like the media will not let this one go. Once again, reports are making the rounds claiming that al-Qaeda is looking to surgically implant explosive devices in suicide bombers as a way to defeat electronic security measures. In fact, I wrote a blog post on this very story twice in the past. The most recent post was from December 2010 in which I wrote:

“The New York Daily News is reporting that the SITE Intelligence Group has released a translation of a conversation from an online Jihadi forum in which several participants were discussing the premise. Unsurprisingly, the forum’s participants discussed the roadblocks inherent in the plan. Explosives are rather caustic and if not protected properly in the human body could cause death before the operative has a chance to deploy. Other issues such as the terrorist’s body absorbing most of the explosives power are also discussed. Although the medical technology needed to put such a plot together is beyond the reach of most terrorists, the fact that the discussion continues to take place is rather interesting.”

The constant rehashing of this story began when Abdullah Al-Asiri, a suicide bomber operating on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, detonated a bomb secreted in his lower intestine in an attempt to assassinate Assistant Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef. The bomb detonated successfully, although the Interior Minister survived the attack. The Saudi led investigation concluded that al-Asiri’s body absorbed the majority of the bomb’s explosive potential, thus killing the bomber and only slightly wounding the intended target. The investigators believe the bomb’s main charge was comprised of PETN and was in the 3.5 to 4 ounce range – about the same as Richard Reid’s shoe bomb.

The al-Asiri story is atypical. Truth be told, terrorists will continue to look for new methods for attacking their targets of choice, but it is incredibly difficult to implant a bomb into a human body while maintaining the devices usefulness. The lack of medical expertise aside, the toll the surgery takes on the bomber is another consideration that is often overlooked. Drug mules have successfully swallowed large amounts of narcotics wrapped in latex, but explosives are a different matter. Explosives are comprised of caustic materials and placing these in the human body, even protected, may result in the bombers death before the target is reached. What we need to keep in mind is that although terrorists will continue to innovate they will continue to execute attacks using simple, proven methods. The recent attack on the intercontinental hotel in Afghanistan is a stark reminder that small arms and improvised explosive devices are still the terrorist weapons of choice. If we are to look to new trends that actually have a chance of succeeding, then we need to look no further than the burgeoning lone wolf threat. This is what al-Qaeda is propagating and many amateurs are heeding.

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