TerrorismEase of construction makes pressure-cooker bombs popular among terrorists
The ease of building pressure-cooker bombs has made them popular among terrorist organizations and insurgent groups. Inspire, the on-line English-language magazine published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), three years ago published an article titled “How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom” by “the AQ Chef,” which contained detailed instructions on building a pressure-cooker bomb.
The issue of al Qaeda's magazine that includes directions for pressure-cooker bomb production // Source: alsumaria.tv
The identity of the individuals who built the bombs which exploded near the finish line of Monday’s Boston Marathon is not yet known, and their organizational affiliation, if any, is not known, either. USA Today reports that terrorism experts say, however, that it would not surprise them if these terrorists were affiliated with, or at least inspired by, al Qaeda or one of its off-shoots. One reason for thinking along these lines is the fact that the glossy, on-line English-language magazine Inspire, published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has published a how-to article containing detailed instructions on how to make bombs using pressure cookers – the same kind of bombs which were used in Boston.
Inspirewas founded by U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and was edited by Samir Khan, a Saudi-born American citizen. Both were killed on 30 September 2011 in a CIA drone attack on a car in Yemen in which they and their body guards were traveling.
Three years ago, in its summer 2010 issue, Inspire published an article titled “How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom” by “the AQ Chef.”
The article about pressure-cooker bombs was one of several articles in a special section in the issued, titled “The Open-Source Jihad.”
The ease of building pressure-cooker bombs has made them popular among terrorist organizations and insurgent groups. Experts note that these devices have been used most frequently by Islamic extremists in South Asia.
Military.com notes that the Boston bombs were not the first pressure-cooker bombs to be used in the West. Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo was arrested on 28 July 2011 for planning to use a pressure-cooker bomb to blow up a restaurant frequented by fellow soldiers outside Fort Hood, Texas. One of the three explosive devices used in the May 2010 Times Square attempted bombing was a pressure cooker bomb.
Miliitary.comalso notes that in the ten issues it published over the last three years. Inspire has provided detailed instructions, accompanied with diagrams, charts, and photos, on how to use automatic weapons, produce remote control detonators, set fire to a building, create forest fires, set fire to a parked, and how to cause road accidents with oil slicks on a road or tire-bursting spikes.
An Islamic Web site has collected these instructional articles, including the one on pressure cooker bombs, into a small book titled The Lone Mujahed Pocketbook.
