The bomb in the body

October 7th, 2009

A new method of attack al-Qaida terrorist experts worried. And it could have major impact on security at airports.

The suicide attack killed: Abdullah Asieri. 

The end of August saw a suicide attack in Saudi Arabia for much attention. The assassin was up to the office of Prince Mohammed Bin Naif penetrated, where there was an explosion. Naif, who is responsible as deputy interior minister for counter-terrorism in Saudi Arabia, Bin, suffered – as if by a miracle – only minor injuries. The assassin was Asieri Abdullah was killed on the spot you’re looking for the man willing to meet the authorities said. The attack raised the question of how the al-Qaida terrorist was able to advance despite the greatest security with a bomb to the office of the son of the Saudi Minister.

The disturbing answer terrorism experts found out a few weeks later. The suicide bomber of Jeddah was not the explosive device hidden in his cell phone, as initially assumed, but in his body. According to media reports, he had about half a kilogram of explosives in itself.

Bomb in the form of a suppository?

The mobile phone of the terrorists said to have been equipped with two SIM cards, as reported in “Spiegel Online”. A SIM card had been used to communicate with an accomplice in Yemen. Had been “with the other SIM card, the terrorist group struck the explosive device; its detonator was located apparently in the intestine of the terrorists.” What kind of material for the explosive device used, is not yet known. The explosives could have had the form of a suppository.

According to media reports, the al-Qaida terrorists, the 40 hours before the attack have not eaten or drunk as not to diminish the force of the explosion. The force of the explosion erupted but mostly down, why the victim was only slightly injured. The blast left behind a crater in the ground.

Better body scanners needed

The suicide attack in Jeddah showed that terrorists have developed new methods to spread terror and kill people. And he suggests that satisfy the existing security measures – for example at airports not. Full body scanners can only make visible what people wear under their clothes, but not under the skin.

The standard security measures at airports were not enough; the newspaper quotes the New York Post “the American terror expert Steve Emerson. It needs scanners with the best X-ray technology, which could also provide images of the body inside. “There’s enormous impact on security at airports,” says Peter Neuman, terrorism expert at King’s College in London, according to “Spiegel Online”. It could possibly be more complicated to board a plane.

In the U.S., full-body scanners with x-ray technology is already deployed and tested at numerous airports respectively. The EU halted a year ago, the use of so-called Nude scanner after a storm of indignation.

After the attack in Jeddah, many countries have warned the Western world, especially its security forces against a possible threat of explosives hidden in the body of assassins.