Underwear Bomb Plot Raises US Airport Security Concerns
A new explosive device intended to be part of a suicide bombing that was thwarted by CIA investigators, has raised airport security concerns.
The new detonating device resembles the underwear bomb that was unsuccessfully employed during a suicide bomb attempt in Detroit during 2009. The device has been seized by the FBI and is currently being analyzed in Quantico, Virginia.
Both suicide-bombing plots were initiatives by the al-Qaida terrorist group. The latest plot has been linked to senior leader Fahd al-Quso in Yemen-based Al Qaida, who was killed Sunday, according to BBC News.
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With the bomb plot thwarted by a CIA insider, investigators have decided to focus on the new explosive device, which could pose a serious threat to airport security. No information has been released as to who the insider may be and whether Yemen military forces had contributed help.
"Now we're trying to make sure that we take the measures that we need to prevent any other type of IED (improvised explosive device), similarly constructed, from getting through security procedures," White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said in a statement.
The underwear detonation system did not contain any metal, which means that it would be unlikely for the device to get picked up by airport metal detectors. The FBI is still investigating if other security measures in place, including the highly criticized body scanner, would have been capable of detecting such a device.
The plot has been uncovered only days after the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, which occurred on May 1 of last year. Some have shown concern that a terrorist attack may now be imminent.
Currently, however, officials have denied being aware of any such attack.
"We have no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the anniversary of bin Laden's death," White House press secretary Jay Carney said on April 26.
