New al-Qaida threat: Thermobaric bombs

Packs power like a nuke, but easier to build, blow up

Investigators now believe the bombing on Sep. 21 that killed dozens and left massive damage at the Islamabad Marriott, including a gaping hole in the ground in front of the building, was a crude form of a device that intensifies and enhances an explosive – a thermobaric bomb, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

The bomb was delivered in a truck that contained what investigators believe was aluminum powder in addition to grenades and artillery shells. The aluminum power is believed to have been responsible for the acceleration and expansion of the impact of the bomb.

While barriers around the hotel kept the truck bomb at some distance from the structure, the devastation indicated that there had to be something capable of raising the devastation level considerably.

The blast was thought to be targeting Americans, since the hotel is a central location for U.S. personnel including intelligence agents to meet outside the U.S. embassy. The hotel also is a temporary residence for U.S. personnel staying in the country.

Some five dozen people, including U.S. government employees, were killed by the truck bomb which was said to include more than a ton of explosives.

If this analysis of the presence of aluminum powder is confirmed, it means that terrorists with the capability can make such bombs without detection, since all ingredients are off-the-shelf.

Al-Qaida and related terrorist groups such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban of Pakistan are thought to have made the attack on the Islamabad Marriott hotel. If that is accurate, then by extension al-Qaida has developed an ability to fashion thermobaric bombs of huge potential.

"Thermobaric bombs … may be emerging as a weapon of choice for terrorists," declared Tom Burky, an explosives expert at the Ohio-based Battelle defense research institute.

Burky pointed out that thermobaric bombs are meant to take out big buildings and cave complexes where metal fragmentations from traditional bombs don't work well. He added that thermobaric blasts can push around corners and down corridors or deep inside caves.

When an explosion occurs in a bomb using aluminum powder as in the Islamabad Marriott hotel blast, metal powder creates a fireball as it contacts the air.