Airliner C4 Threat

Our homeland security people are concerned (due to intel intercepts and interrogations) about al Qaeda bringing bombs aboard airliners that do not look like bombs. They are worried that moldable C4 is going to be fashioned into objects that appear harmless (like statuettes, knickknacks, etc.) and carried onto airliners or placed in checked baggage. The puffers (if the explosive was on someone's person) and swab-style mass spectrometers (4 types) would detect these explosives, but only a tiny percentage get this treatment.

They are also worried that C4 could be perfectly molded into the inside of things like personal DVD players and go right through scanners without being detected. If they device is not swabbed, it could go right through with no problem. For example, you could cut the tops off of batteries, remove the guts, replace the guts with C4, replace and fasten the battery tops, and place the batteries in electronic devices and get them right aboard.

Be on the lookout for closer TSA scrutiny being applied to electronic devices.

Somali Pirates and Ammonium Nitrate

Al Shabab, Somalia's al Qaeda franchise that controls part of the country's pirate industry, is hopefully being heavily monitored with various US intel assets in part because several of the ships they have seized are/were carrying ammonium nitrate (AN), a very powerful high explosive when properly mixed and rigged (Tim McVeigh used AN in OKC and the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were destroyed with AN IEDs). In November 2009, that other terrorist (also Shabab) flying from Mogadishu to Dubai was caught with an explosive whose primary ingredient was ammonium nitrate (NOT PETN).

Shabab has been offloading some of the AN from seized vessels with the intent to use it against US and other Western targets in Africa, Yemen, the Middle East and elsewhere. Do not be surprised if we have been trying like mad to observe the offloading and follow the AN as it gets moved by truck and dhow (mostly), and considerable assets have been assigned to track the stuff. Very serious warnings have been issued regarding this threat. Expect the DoD and CIA's SAD to have both trained for missions to seize pirated vessels carrying AN that are anchored off Somalia. Also, we have the ability (obviously) to use air strikes to hit vehicles and dhows carrying AN away from its original vessel. More than one high-ranking DoD official in the decision/recommendation loop has said we should consider sinking pirated AN vessels while at anchor.

Mission Statement: The Terrorism and Intelligence (Intel) Blog

This blog's mission is to serve as a clearinghouse for unclassified, "insider" information on matters of concern and note relating to homeland security, the global war on terror, and intelligence.

Media, government agencies, and other bloggers are requested to cite this source when gleaning from it.

Robert P. Newman

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