Body cavity bomb explained

A body cavity bomb (BCB) is an explosive device hidden inside the body of a person in order to commit a suicide attack.^[1] While this concept has been used many times in fiction, it is almost unknown in real life. A body cavity bomb is only known to have been used once, in a failed assassination attempt.

A hypothetical further elaboration of the concept in the form of a surgically implanted explosive device has been the subject of speculation, but no such device has ever been found in real life.

2009 attack on Prince Muhammad bin Nayef

In August 2009 Abdullah al-Asiri, the younger brother of Ibrahim al-Asiri (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's chief bomb-maker), tried to assassinate a Saudi prince, Muhammad bin Nayef, with an improvised explosive device that had been inserted into his rectum and anal canal.

On 27 August 2009, Asiri queued up at Mohammed bin Nayef's palace in Jeddah as a "well-wisher," a tradition in the kingdom during Ramadan. He exploded the device (perhaps with a mobile phone), killing himself, but only lightly injuring bin Nayef (who was protected from the full force of the blast by Asiri's body).^{[2] [3]} Assisted by his older brother, Ibrahim al-Asiri, he had hidden a pound (about 0.45kg) of PETN plastic explosives in his rectum and anal canal, which security experts described as a novel technique.^[4] Asiri had passed through a metal detector and remained in the security of the Prince's bodyguards for over 24 hours before gaining the audience.^[5] "I did not want him to be searched, but he surprised me by blowing himself up," said Mohammed bin Nayef.^[6] The Saudi Gazette reported on October 22, 2009, that a Yemeni named Rayed Abdullah Salem Al Harbi assisted Asiri in preparing for his suicide mission.^[7]

Media speculation

In May 2012, various reporters leaked their acquisition of documents describing the preparation and use of such devices.^{[8] [9] [10]} According to The Daily Mirror in the UK, security officials at MI-6 asserted that female bombers could travel undetected carrying the explosive chemicals in otherwise standard breast implants.^[11] The bomber would blow up the implanted explosives by injecting a chemical trigger.^[10]

Analysis

Tactically speaking, the use and employment of the BCB falls into a category of tactics known as ‘in-situ’ attacks.^[12] The factors which could thwart the effective use of the BCB are:

• By its very nature as a weapon it is intended for closed-in attacks (the attacker carrying the device has to be in direct contact with the target);
• This is because the blast yield has been shown to range from low to negligible.
• To be successful, the attacker has to enact an ‘in situ’ attack, physically placing their body against the target and initiating the device.

The other constraint is that this weapon likely decreases in effect if used outdoors, as indoors closed environments offer the best physical possible properties, where blast-reflection is a factor in confinement. Thus, as can be seen, the very factors that make the BCB effective are also highly limiting.

Detection

Body cavity bombs are hard to detect by most non-invasive means. However, attempts have been made to create methods for detecting them using various physical principles, including nuclear quadrupole resonance.^[13]

In fiction

The BCB has a long history in science fiction writing and film history. For example, in the 1957 novella "Run for the Stars" by Harlan Ellison, the drug-addicted protagonist has a bomb implanted in his abdomen to delay an advancing alien army, making him an involuntary suicide bomber.^[14] Notwithstanding, in conventional security thinking, it has been noted that "placing bombs inside live human beings was still definitely not on the radar" prior to 2009.

The concept of the BCB has been regularly used as a theatrical–plot device in many popular TV shows and movies since at least the late 1960s (and perhaps earlier), and a number of popular U.S. films and television series episodes have featured the BCB, "ironically illustrating many of the key tactical concepts herein—that is, it is hidden in the human body, camouflaged from intelligence sensors, and used for attacks on specific targets". For example:

• The U.S. film, Death Race 2000, a 1975 cult action film, in which one of the characters called ‘Frankenstein’ intends to assassinate the president by planning to shake his hand, detonating a grenade which has been implanted in the perpetrator's prosthetic right hand (who calls it his ‘hand grenade’).
• The 1990 episode ‘Reunion’ features an attempted assassination using a BCB hidden and undetected (from security sensors) inside a person's arm, requiring them to stand close to their intended target.
• The 2001 U.S. science fiction movie Impostor, based on the 1953 short story Impostor by Philip K. Dick, features the use of BCBs. Set in the year 2079, the film's plot revolves around human 'replicants', created by hostile aliens, which are perfect biological copies of existing humans, complete with transplanted memories. This allows the 'replicants' to approach their targets camouflaged from detection. Each has a small, organic nuclear bomb in place of a heart, programmed to detonate when they are in proximity to their target.
• The British television series Spooks features in its season 3 finale a woman carrying a chemical BCB in an attempt to murder the prime minister, the bomb contained in her stomach to avoid discovery.
• The 2008 Batman film, The Dark Knight, also featured a BCB. In that film, a fictional scenario was portrayed where the Joker blew up a police station by means of a cell-phone activated bomb sewn into an unwilling victim's stomach.
• The novel Eve of Destruction by Sylvia Day features several female protagonists who have been implanted with BCB devices.
• The 2009 war film The Hurt Locker features a BCB when the body of a young Iraqi boy is found to have been surgically implanted with an unexploded bomb.
• The 2015 video game features two BCB's inside Paz, implanted by Skull Face as a set-up. One bomb is successfully removed, but the other explodes, killing Paz, destroying the helicopter that they were on and wounding Big Boss severely in the process.
• In season one of the 2015 Israeli television series, Fauda, an operative of the Israel Defense Forces is kidnapped by Hamas and killed with a BCB.
• In 2016 Indian TV serial, Diya Aur Baati Hum season 28 last episode also been ended with a body cavity bomb blast scene in which IPS Sandhya(actress) and her husband Sooraj(actor) were forced to eat the capsule bombs. In order to save the city from the blast both of them went to the river where they took their last breath.
• In the book series, “The Unwind Dystology” by Neal Shusterman, Clappers are young terrorists that have introduced an undetectable chemical into their circulatory system that makes their blood explosive. They get their name because they detonate by bringing their hands together in powerful applause.

See also

• Improvised explosive device

Notes and References

1. Book: Bunker, Robert J. . Body cavity bombers : the new martyrs . 2013 . Christopher Flaherty . 978-1-4917-0310-6 . Bloomington, IN . 857277548.
2. News: Sherine Bahaa . September 3, 2009 . New evil in the making? . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090905161355/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/963/re5.htm . September 5, 2009.
3. News: September 21, 2009 . Terrorist hid explosives in his bottom . Telegraph.co.uk . London . September 27, 2009.
4. Web site: November 1, 2010 . Saudi Bombmaker Key Suspect in Yemen Plot . 24 April 2015 . . Associated Press.
5. Aaronovitch, David, Even failed terrorists spell serious trouble The Times 29 December 2009
6. News: 28 August 2009 . Saudi prince wounded by suicide bomber vows to fight Al-Qaida . Haaretz . 16 April 2015.
7. News: Abdullah Al Oraifiji . October 22, 2009 . Jizan 3rd man a Saudi with 'very close ties to Al-Qaeda' . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120218145638/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009102052062 . February 18, 2012.
8. News: Ibrahim al-Asiri: The Body Bomb Menace . . 2012-05-14 . 2012-05-14 . Newsweek has learned that U.S. intelligence officials circulated a secret report that laid out in vivid detail how doctors working for al-Asiri had developed the surgical technique. An American government source familiar with the report described it as 15 to 20 pages, single spaced, and replete with schematics and pictures. “It was almost like something you’d see in Scientific American,” the source said. . Daniel Klaidman, Christopher Dickey. mirror
9. News: You da bomb! (surgically-implanted explosives) . . 2012-05-14 . 2012-05-14 . According to Newsweek, US intelligence officials report that al Qaeda's explosives expert Ibrahim al-Asiri and medical doctors have been designing bombs to be surgically implanted into the bodies of suicide bombers. The idea is that the technique would somehow foil airport scanners. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You da bomb!" . David Pescovitz . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120517033413/http://boingboing.net/2012/05/14/youre-the-bomb-surgically.html . 2012-05-17.
10. News: Al-Qaida's 'Body Bombs' increase Fears of Global Attacks by Master Bomb-Maker Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri . . 2012-05-14 . 2012-05-14 . Experts and intelligence sources say the terrorists could use the powerful explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, known as PETN and insert it in the bodies of would-be suicide bombers. According to reports they would then be able to detonate the implanted explosives via injections. The bombs would not be detectable to airport body scanner, increasing risks of attacks similar to the 2011 September attack on the Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon. . Anissa Haddadi . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120610051119/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/340801/20120514/al-qaida-s-body-bombs-increase-fears.htm . 2012-06-10.
11. News: Breast bombers: Doctors trained to plant explosives inside chest of female suicide bombers . . 2012-05-14 . 2012-05-14 . MI6 chiefs believe doctors have been trained to plant explosives inside the breasts of female suicide bombers. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120514085514/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/doctors-trained-to-plant-explosives-inside-832010 . 2012-05-14.
12. Flaherty . Chris . Green . Anthony R . 2011 . 15 Meters/11 Seconds . Journal of Information Warfare . 10 . 2 . 22–37 . 26486805 . 1445-3312.
13. Detecting body cavity bombs with nuclear quadrupole resonance . Northeastern University . 2014 . 10.17760/d20018668 . Michael London . Collins. 2047/d20018668 . free .
14. Book: Weil . Ellen . Wolfe . Gary K.. 2002 . Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever . Ohio State University Press . 58–59 . 9780814208922.