Car bomb almost goes off in NYC

[Windjammer]

There is a striking similarity between the Times Square scare on Sunday and the 2007 Glasgow airport attack bid. In both cases, propane fuel was used. Speaking to experts, Vicky Nanjappa tries to uncloak the plot behind what could have been a deadly terror attack.

The defusing of a car bomb at the Times Square was a major relief for the New York police. Had the bomb, which contained propane gas containers gone off, the result could have been disastrous, say experts.

The Times Square plot incident brings back memories of the 2007 Glasgow international airport attack where the deadly propanes were used by the Bangalore-based Kafeel Ahmed. The hard disks seized from Kafeel and the interrogation of his accomplice, Bilal, revealed that they had intentionally used propane gas in the bid to blow up the Glasgow airport.

Compared to the deadly RDX, propane gas, experts indicate, was easily available and did not catch the attention of the security as RDX would have.

These materials -- unlike the RDX -- are easy to source and are normally used by terrorists in high-security zones. There are various similarities between the Glasgow incident which involved Kafeel and the one that occurred at the Times Square on Sunday.

Kafeel had conducted a thorough recce on the use of this gas before actually attempting to use it. The bomb, however, did not go off, since security agencies were able to intercept the jeep that he was driving. Ahmed, however, died after battling severe burn injuries in hospital.

Experts say the effects of a bomb when propane cylinders are used can be as disastrous as ammonium nitrate or RDX.

The cylinders are usually packed with sharp objects such as nails which can be sprayed up to huge distances when the cylinder explodes. The cylinder usually bursts after the vehicle in which it is placed explodes. Such attacks come under the definition of a suicide or fidayeen strike.

Propane gas cylinders can also be made to explode with a timer device attached to it. The device usually causes a spark which causes cylinders to explode.

All these devices are packed together, experts point out. Kafeel, too, had deviced a similar bomb all by himself as he was completely influenced by Al Qaeda [ Images ] preachings. However, investigations never revealed any link of his to any outfit and investigators came to the conclusion that this was a solo operation.

When a bomb fitted with a propane cylinder explodes, it first causes a huge ball of smoke which normally spreads to a diameter of 500 to 600 yards. If these devices are packed with shrapnel then the impact is huge. The shrapnel and the material from the car spreads out due to the impact and can very easily cause of loss of life and huge damage to property.

While the shrapnel is inserted only to add to the damage, the biggest worry is the fire that the explosion would cause. To add to the damage would be the car fuel which would be flung at a very high velocity at the near by buildings thus resulting in a major fire.

Experts point out that the above mentioned impact is the result of just one cylinder which is normally 13 kg. In the case of Kafeel, he had fitted his jeep with two such cylinders. The impact tends to increase depending on the number of cylinders.

Terrorists normally prefer using propane cylinders in car bombs due to its easy availability. Propane is usually used for refrigeration and is very easily available under various brand names.

There is no restriction to carry these cylinders which only makes the job of a terrorists easier. Bombs which are fitted with propane cylinders are aimed more towards creating panic than loss of life. The fire that it would cause would be most devastating.

When Kafeel prepared the bomb, he had not fitted it with shrapnel. His intention was to cause a major fire in the airport and cause panic. However, the bomb which was defused on Times Square contained shrapnel, which only goes on to show that the culprit wanted to strike a double blow. The impact of the shrapnel is almost the same when compared to the one used in bombs containing RDX or ammonium nitrate experts further pointed out.

Propane gas contains a liquefied propane and hydrocarbon and its explosive properties for every 10 litre of gas is equal to 2770 litre of flammable gas and air mix.

 

[desiman]

What do you mean "we indians in USA" - you have two indian flags. Are you lying about your location?



Where have you been all these years! This is India's number one occupation, regardless of the truth in it.

Rule number 1 - you give the enemy an opportunity and he will use it. Truth or no truth, it does not matter. Best not to offer the enemy a chance to target you in the first. Its easier to correct yourself than to correct the enemies attitude.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

a lot of people suffered from the global economic crisis -- I did; many of you did too i'm sure

i think it has more to do with anger and frustration and less to do with radicalization.


these news networks act as if becoming religious means that you will become a terrorist. Especially when it deals with Islam.



pathetic

 

[khanz]

the funny thing is there is no check on these kinda sites, you can find it without any problem

this is site is functional for quite some time now

Jamia Hafsa forum - Powered by vBulletin

b@stard traitors just read their ttp sub-forum and it made my blood boil somebody report these taliban f ucks to interpol or something.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

The ease with which Times Square bomb-plot accused Faisal Shahzad was allegedly able to undergo bombmaking instruction during a visit to Pakistan has once again highlighted the country's enduring reputation as the destination of choice for jihadist tourism. The claim by Pakistani government sources that Shahzad trained at a camp in North Waziristan will ratchet up pressure on Islamabad to crack down on militant groups that operate in zones of lawlessness on its soil, and to dismantle the infrastructure that continues to attract aspiring terrorists seeking to attack the West.

Although details of Shahzad's ideological journey remain murky, Pakistanis who knew him say Shahzad came from a quietly religious family, and may only have become radicalized recently. "Last time when I met him," retired schoolteacher Nazirullah Khan told Reuters, "he didn't have a beard. I attended his wedding." Shahzad's possible links to Pakistani militant groups are under investigation, but some officials suspect that he may have had ties to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a banned terror group that began its life as a proxy of Pakistan's intelligence services deployed to fight India in Kashmir. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai massacre, is also being investigated as a possibility, a senior Pakistani government source told TIME.

If suspicions of such links prove true, Shahzad's case would hardly be the first time a Western walk-in has turned up in the midst of Pakistani jihadist groups. Last October, David Headley, another U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested and later charged with helping plan the November 2008 Mumbai massacre. According to a plea agreement issued by the Justice Department in March, Headley made contact with al-Qaeda operatives during two trips to North Waziristan — the tribal area under limited central government authority, where Shahzad is also said to have received his training. North Waziristan is the only tribal area untouched thus far by Pakistan's military offensives against its domestic Taliban insurgency, and the region is home to an assortment of jihadist groups that have working relationships with one another (including al-Qaeda). The Pakistani Army has deferred any offensive in the area, claiming limits on its capacity to take on such a mission right now, but the Times Square plot is likely to revive U.S. pressure for an offensive there.

Shahzad and similar volunteers who arrive from the West are believed by Pakistani analysts to have begun their radicalization before making contact with local militant groups. "Somehow, in Canada, Britain and the U.S., people get self-radicalized, then they try and get in touch with radical organizations, depending on their background," says Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. "If they are Pakistanis, they come here." And the Internet has proved to be a powerful tool for both radicalization and recruitment. "There's so much available in cyberspace, it would scare you to death," says Ayesha Siddiqa, an independent security analyst in Islamabad.

Any aspiring jihadist arriving in Pakistan is spoiled for choice when it comes to finding a militant group with which to sign up. Banned organizations such as LeT operate openly under different names, and it's not very difficult for the determined volunteer militant to find his way to such groups. "It's like a drug addict arriving in a new town," adds Siddiqa. "They always figure out where to get their fix."

Recruits bearing Western citizenship are prized by terror groups, because their passports, education, facility with language and relative comfort with life in Western cities are largely absent among the young, impressionable madrasah students often chosen to carry out vicious bombings in Pakistan, Afghanistan or even India. The potential of these more cosmopolitan recruits to strike in the heart of the West further fuels jihadist fantasies. As Michael Chertoff, the former head of Homeland Security, told MSNBC on Wednesday, "Unfortunately this is the kind of perfect mole for the terrorists. And this is why they're recruiting people who ... have clean records, are American citizens, have lived in America, because they want to take advantage of that cleanliness as a way of evading our defenses."

Britain has had to deal with this problem since the July 2005 bombings of the London commuter system. Given the vast number of Britons of Pakistani origin who move back and forth between the two countries, policing the traffic has severely tested authorities. The U.S. is not immune: Headley was able to move undetected between America, India and Pakistan for nearly seven years. Clearly, a problem also exists with respect to the extent of coordination between Western intelligence agencies and their Pakistani counterparts.

Shahzad, had he been seeking to join up with militants in Pakistan, would have had two distinct advantages over other Western-based volunteers. Having spent the first 18 years of his life in Pakistan, he was at ease in the country. His family's background in the northwest meant that he likely spoke Pashto, a rare asset. And the status of his father, retired senior air-force officer Bahar ul-Haq, is the sort of connection known to avert a suspicious gaze from law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan. Siddiqa goes further: "If you are traveling in Waziristan, and you are stopped, the fact that you are an air-force vice marshal's son can offer you protection," she says.

But whatever training Shahzad may have received in Waziristan must have been mercifully poor, judging by the multiple mistakes in the botched bombing attempt to which U.S. officials say he has confessed. Yet he's unlikely to have been the only Western wannabe to have passed through these camps and then returned to the West to put his militant education to work.

Faisal Shahzad Bomb Inquiry Looks at Pakistan Training - TIME

 

[Kompromat]

Pakistan Taliban: Faisal Shahzad Not One of Us - World Watch - CBS News

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

people like Shahzad will make traveling to Pakistan a crime. Now terrorist are looking for kids from rich families to be their tool as they can use Pakistanis Ellette culture to hide from law.

 

[VrSoLdIeRs]

too many skeletons in this closet dude!!!
as far as i have heard he just got nationality.. why would he do such a stuff if he wanted to be american citizen?? plus he has a family... people who have a family t o support dont turn to terrorism that easily!!

then he has accepted each n everything... thats quite strange, even ajmal kasab tried his best to escape!!!

i just have this feeling there is something else, things aint straight forward as they seem!!!

 

[TruthSeeker]

a lot of people suffered from the global economic crisis -- I did; many of you did too i'm sure

i think it has more to do with anger and frustration and less to do with radicalization.

But Mr. Zolfiqar, there is no evidence that Mr. Shahzad "suffered" from the global economic crisis. He quit his job. He stopped making his mortgage payments. He, apparently, decided to change his life for personal reasons having nothing to do with the "global economic crisis". Why did you post the above???

 

[TruthSeeker]

i just have this feeling there is something else, things aint straight forward as they seem!!!

Perhaps Mr. Shahzad was bored with his life as an accountant. He wanted a life with more meaning and consequence. Jihad beckoned. He succumbed.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

- Shahzad a ‘lone wolf’: Petraeus

- An FBI team arrives in Pakistan to probe ties of NY bomber

 

[Marxist]

Times Square bomb suspect had ties to key Pakistani militants

Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber, grew up in a Pakistani family whose circle of acquaintances included two future militants — a Taliban leader and one of the participants in the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, a government source said Friday.

Officials now believe this family background may help explain why Shahzad, after immigrating to the United States, grew radicalized and allegedly contacted the Pakistani Taliban via the Internet. The group would have welcomed him because as a naturalized U.S. citizen, he could easily travel to and from Pakistan.


Agents interviewing Shahzad, 30, who lived in Connecticut, also learned that he was upset over repeated CIA drone attacks on militants in Pakistan, his native country. He was also troubled by marital and financial difficulties and a foreclosure on his home, said the government source, who has been briefed on the investigation. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

The revelations provide fresh indications that the Pakistani Taliban — in the past mainly concerned with fighting the Pakistani government — has broadened its focus to include the U.S. by encouraging Shahzad to detonate a Nissan Pathfinder in New York last week.

But it remained unclear whether Shahzad's Internet contact with the Taliban was an attempt to volunteer, or whether the militants reached out to him.

"What we don't know is if he was actively recruited by these guys or if he recruited himself," said a second source, a senior U.S. official.

But, the senior official said, if the Taliban has widened its focus to carry out attacks on the United States, then "it would change the game." He added that it could force the U.S. to reassess the threat it faces from Pakistan and how best to respond.

Shahzad was arrested late Monday night after boarding a flight at New York's JFK International Airport. He was charged Tuesday with five criminal counts, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He faces life in prison if convicted.

He has not appeared in court, and no defense attorney has appeared on his behalf, signs that Shahzad is cooperating with the FBI and counter-terrorism interrogators.

In the criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent Andrew P. Pachtman said that Shahzad confessed to trying to blow up his SUV loaded with propane gas and fertilizer, and that he had "recently received bomb-making training in Waziristan, Pakistan."

In addition, records showed that he last returned to the U.S. from Pakistan on a one-way ticket on Feb. 3 after he said he spent five months in that country. He told airport security officials in a secondary screening that he had gone to Pakistan to visit his parents.

But it has since been learned that Shahzad was driven by Sheikh Mohammed Rehan, a known militant, from Karachi to the turbulent border city of Peshawar in July 2009, and then on to the Waziristan area and its training camps there. Rehan was arrested in Pakistan this week with several others, and Shahzad's father, Bahar Ul Haz, was questioned but not arrested.

Ul Haz is a retired air vice marshal in Pakistan, who, the government source said, knew Baitullah Mehsud, a leading militant in Waziristan with the Taliban. He is thought to have once led some 5,000 jihadists in struggles against the Pakistani government.

Although Mehsud's death has never been officially confirmed, it has been reported that he was gravely injured in an Aug. 5 drone attack in South Waziristan, and died three weeks later. That would have occurred around the time that Shahzad was in the Waziristan area.

It also was learned that Shahzad knew one of the militants involved in the November 2008 attack in Mumbai, where a resort hotel, hospitals and a movie theater were bombed and people were shot to death. At least 173 people were killed.

It was not known which Mumbai attacker Shahzad knew. The source described the man only as someone Shahzad knew when he was a child.

The Pakistani Taliban initially claimed credit for the attempted Times Square bombing, then retracted the claim while suggesting it had other efforts underway to attack the U.S. The group has made such claims in the past, and they have been dismissed by intelligence agencies.

Until now, the U.S. has carried out a covert campaign of airstrikes against militant groups in the border region and funneled aid to Pakistan's government and armed forces, while relying largely on Pakistani forces to conduct ground operations.

The U.S. official said discussions about possibly employing new military or diplomatic options would become serious only if the Obama administration revised its assessment of the Pakistani Taliban. Even then, sending large numbers of U.S. troops is not considered a likely option, largely because of the Pakistani government's continued opposition to the idea.

Currently only a few hundred U.S. military personnel — mostly Special Forces trainers — are in Pakistan.

Times Square bomb scare: Suspect had ties to Pakistani militants - latimes.com

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

did he get money for doing it ?

 

[Pakistani Man]

.................

 

[Isaq Khan]

Rule number 1 - you give the enemy an opportunity and he will use it. Truth or no truth, it does not matter. Best not to offer the enemy a chance to target you in the first. Its easier to correct yourself than to correct the enemies attitude.

Absolutely, the innocent Pakistanis should not be targeted. The bad works of terrorists can't run over good works of all.

But It is the best time India should move to delink CIA-ISI tie up.

CIA always save their establishment. "Loha garam hai hathoda mar do" a diplomatic campaign can pressurize pak to act on LeT and JeM etc. etc.

In Long run it will be also good for the Pakistan.

But alas we have pro US MMS.