al-Qaeda may blow up airplanes using body bombs
Posted by Subhan Choudhury on July 7, 2011
al-Qaida’s main aim between 2012 and 2014 is to bring about the collapse of the hated Arabic governments. The ultimate is that “the creeping loss of the regimes’ power will lead to a steady growth in strength within al-Qaida.” At the same time attacks will be carried out against oil suppliers, airlines and major business centers. The group also plans to target the US economy using cyber terrorism.
Al-Qaeda ideologues envision a complete break from the foreign influences in Muslim countries, and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate. It believes that a Christian-Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam, which is largely embodied in the U.S.-Israel alliance, and that the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in jihad.
The US security experts recently asked airlines and airport authorities to be on high alert for possible al-Qaeda attempts to blow up passenger jets using body bombs that are surgically implanted in suicide attackers. They fear fanatics could inject a detonating chemical into themselves to trigger the bombs.
al-Qaeda is currently trying to implant explosives into the abdomens, buttocks and breasts of suicide bombers so they can pass undetected through airport body scanners. Potential bombers would carry a letter from a doctor claiming they have had surgery and need to carry a needle and syringe for medical reasons. It would be sufficient to clear security during check-in for a flight.
Experts say the introduction of more sophisticated screening devices, including body scanners, has led terrorists to seek new ways of smuggling bombs on to planes. Terror experts confirmed that small pouches of high explosives such as Pentaerythritol Tetra Nitrate (PETN) could be implanted into the body. The wounds would be allowed to heal over and the bomb would be detonated in mid air by injecting a chemical into the pouch. Just eight ounces of PETN, the weight of a Rubik’s Cube, could bring down a plane, the experts have warned.
This warning comes after a failed attempt by British- educated Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a plane heading for DetroitfromAmsterdamon Christmas Day in 2009. He tried to detonate the bomb by injecting the pouch with a chemical, but it set his clothes on fire rather than the device, and he was overpowered.
Between 2016 and 2020, al-queda plans to reduce Western influence in the Islamic world, that resistance will not be feared. It hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order. The plan however got a huge setback this year with the killing of its leader Osama Bin Laden.
