Aviation securityAl Qaeda plot to use kamikaze dogs failed
Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq tried to bring a plane down by deploying a pair of kamikaze canines on a U.S.-bound airplane; terrorists placed the bombs inside the dogs’ bodies, then took the dogs to the Baghdad airport in kennel carriers, destined for a flight to the United States; the plot failed because the bombs were so poorly stitched inside the dogs, that the dogs died
Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq attempted to unleash terror in the skies by deploying a pair of kamikaze canines on a U.S.-bound airplane, a French newspaper reports.
The canine-centered plot failed because the bombs were so poorly stitched inside the dogs that they — the dogs — died, Paris daily Le Figaro reports (see Jean-Marc Leclerc, “Avions de ligne : la menace des chiens kamikazes,” 1 November 2010 Le Figaro).
“This case illustrates the determination of al Qaeda militants, who are trying to circumvent terrorism controls by any means,” French criminologist and aviation expert Christophe Naudin told the newspaper.
The plot unfolded roughly two years ago, when al Qaeda militants grabbed two stray dogs off the street and surgically implanted powerful explosives and detonators in each. The dog were then taken a Baghdad airport in kennel carriers, destined for a flight to the United States, the newspaper reports.
The plot was discovered when an American military patrol found the bodies of the two dogs in a secure area of the airport. An autopsy found the explosives inside the dogs’ bodies.
The information about the kamikaze dogs was circulated to the U.S. security agencies and the international governing body of civilian aviation, but was kept secret for nearly two years.
Le Figaro notes that the Saudi suicide bomber who, on 28 August 2009, tried to kill a Saudi prince by carrying explosive inside his body, used a methodology similar to that tried with the dogs.
