Background Briefing: Package Bombs on Cargo Planes
November 1, 2010
Following the discovery of two suspicious packages containing explosive materials on cargo flights ultimately bound for Chicago, Illinois, this background information on terrorist activity involving explosives and the use of package and letter bombs, attack patterns in Chicago and the United States, and attacks against religious and airline targets has been compiled.
- TERRORISTS’ USE OF EXPLOSIVES
In the United States and around the world, explosives are the type of weapon most commonly used in terrorist attacks. In fact, some type of explosive device was used in 45% of all terrorist attacks worldwide between 1970 and 2008. The United States experienced more than 1100 terrorist attacks involving explosives during that period, with this weapon type being used in more than half of all terrorist attacks in the United States.
However, the prevalence of explosives in terrorist attacks in the United States has dropped dramatically in recent years, from over 60% in the 1970s to just under 25% in the 2000s. During the same time period the prevalence of incendiary weapons, including arson, in terrorist attacks in the United States has increased 160%
Out of over 1100 attacks using explosives in the United States since 1970, forty-three involved letter or package bombs. This includes those sent to various educational institutions and airlines by Theodore Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, between 1978 and 1995. Letter bomb attacks are rarely lethal, causing a fatality in only 12% of U.S. cases. The targets in these attacks are most frequently government targets, but have also included private citizens and property, educational institutions, businesses, and—as in the recent Chicago case—religious figures and institutions.
The perpetrators of letter bomb attacks in the United States are frequently unidentified, however groups that have been attributed responsibility for these attacks come from a wide variety of ideological backgrounds. These organizations include Black September, Independent Armed Revolutionary Commandos (CRIA), International Committee against Nazism, and the Irish Republican Army.
Police reports indicate that the explosive materials intended to arrive in Chicago were contained within ink cartridges of computer printers. This type of weapon is classified as an improvised explosive device (IED). Of the 1100+ terrorist attacks using explosives in the United States, researchers have identified 168 incidents in which terrorists used IEDs within the United States, causing 188 deaths and more than 540 injuries since 1970.
- TARGETING AIRPLANES WITH EXPLOSIVES
According to the latest reports, both U.S. and British officials suspect that the explosive devices were meant to detonate while on the planes, rather than at the Chicago destinations. Furthermore, authorities report that at least one of the packages flew on passenger flights before it was discovered. Over 600 attacks worldwide since 1970 have used explosives to target airports and airlines. At least 75% of these attacks caused no fatalities, however a small percentage have been extremely lethal. These cases include the 1985 attack on Air India flight 182 in which Sikh extremists killed 329; the 1988 bombing of Pan American flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270; and the 1989 bombing of UTA flight 772, which killed 170. The most lethal recent attacks involving explosives on planes are the coordinated bombings of Sibir and Volga-Aviaexpress flights in 2004, which killed 90. Responsibility for these attacks was claimed by the previously unknown “Islambouli Brigades of al-Qa’ida.” Recently, there have also been several thwarted attacks of this nature, including those perpetrated by Richard Reid in 2001, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in 2009. Although there have been incidents where cargo planes (typically carrying aid) were shot down by missiles, as well as cases where cargo buildings at airports have been bombed, there is no record in the Global Terrorism Database of cargo planes being attacked by explosives detonated while onboard the flight.
- AL QA’IDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA (AQAP)
The sophisticated explosives on the cargo planes originated in Yemen, and initial reports implicate al Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as responsible for the attempted attack. Although AQAP is a relatively new group, their attacks as well as those by their predecessor, al Qa’ida in Yemen (AQY), are frequently very lethal. Since the mid-2000s, AQAP (and AQY before it) has used a variety of tactics in its terrorist activity, with attacks involving armed assaults and hostage taking as well as use of explosives and bombs. The attempted bombings in question appear to have been intended as a coordinated attack—a common characteristic of attacks by al-Qa’ida and its affiliated groups.
- TERRORIST ACTIVITY IN CHICAGO
Early reports indicated that the packages in question were addressed to synagogues in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago is ranked sixth among U.S. cities in terms of frequency of terrorist attacks, behind New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Washington.
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Top 10 U.S. Cities: Percent of Terrorist Attacks
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City
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Percent of U.S. Attacks
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New York
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18.68
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Los Angeles
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4.86
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San Francisco
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4.42
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Miami
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4.15
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Washington
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3.36
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Chicago
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2.61
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Berkeley
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1.46
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Seattle
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1.41
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Oakland
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0.88
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San Diego
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0.88
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Source: Global Terrorism Database
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