Terroristi intendono assemblare bombe direttamente sugli aerei

Dal momento che le maglie dei controlli di sicurezza negli aeroporti negli ultimi tempi si sono fatte sempre più strette, i gruppi terroristici islamici hanno deciso di tentare un nuovo approccio: anziché tentare di portare a bordo di un aereo una bomba già pronta a esplodere, portare a bordo, con la collaborazione di più persone, dei singoli componenti dell'ordigno - che presi singolarmente possono risultare innocui agli occhi del personale di sicurezza, e non rilevabili dagli scanner - e assemblarli poi in volo.



Pare addirittura che delle "prove a freddo", delle vere e proprie simulazioni, siano già state portate a termine su voli commerciali fra Medio Oriente, Africa ed Europa:

Islamic militants have conducteddry runs of a devastating new style of bombing on aircraft flying to Europe, intelligence sources believe.



The tactics, which aim to evade aviation security systems by placing only components of explosive devices on passenger jets, allowing militants to assemble them in the air, have been tried out on planes flying between the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe, security sources say.



Concerns that militants might assemble a bomb or another weapon on board were a key factor in the series of recent cancellations of transatlantic flights. Last weekend British Airways stopped flights from London to Washington and Miami for fear of an attack and Air France also cancelled scheduled flights.

Questo getterebbe anche una nuova luce sull'elevato numero di cancellazioni di voli fra Europa e USA, sia sotto le feste di fine anno che in tempi più recenti.

Officials in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere are believed to have warned that at least 12dry runs may have been completed and to have said that the terrorists are aiming to try out their plans on flights around the Mediterranean and the Middle East before attempting to bomb a transatlantic route, where security precautions are now very tight. Militants know that individual components are far easier to smuggle through airport security than an assembled bomb.



In May 2002 nearly 100 grammes of pentrite, a plastic explosive used by the alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid, was found hidden in the armrest of a Moroccan jet when it landed in Metz, France. At the time, investigators said they thought it had been put there as a warning. Now French officials suspect the explosives were placed on the jet as a trial of the new tactics. Though some investigators fear they may be the victim of deliberate 'disinformation', officials say that they cannot riskignoring the warnings.



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An FBI bulletin last November was more specific. It warned that 'terrorists are considering the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) assembled on board to hijack an aircraft or, alternatively, destroy it over heavily populated areas in the event of passenger or crew resistance.



'Components of IEDs can be smuggled on to an aircraft, concealed in either clothing or personal carry-on items such as shampoo and medicine bottles, and assembled on board.



'In many cases of suspicious passenger activity, incidents have taken place in the aircraft's forward lavatory.'

Fonte: The Observer.