Homemade bombs

Refs 1) J. Stoffel, Explosives and Homemade Bombs , Charles C. Thomas, Springfield (1972), 144—85 2) R.R. Lenz, "Explosives and Bomb... 

According to data from the media reports and FBI s Bomb Data Center, 80 to 85% of terrorist attacks will use conventional explosives in the form of homemade bombs. However, bombs can also be used to disperse toxic chemicals. The psychological warfare value produced following the mass hysteria from the use of a chemical agent cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately the vast majority of public safety agencies and medical facilities are not well equipped to handle such an event. 

Pipe bombs are usually constructed of metal or plastic pipe and are filled with gunpowder (Figure 6.10). These are the most common homemade bombs, as they... 

Recent terrorist attacks on October 12, 2002, in Bali, Indonesia, showed that the homemade and industrial explosive bombs present a serious threat to the world community. These terrorist activities generated enormous demand for rapid identification of nitroaromatic explosives at the site of terrorism. The decentralized detection of explosives at low concentrations is fundamental for safety of civilized people. The ideal counter-terrorism detection device should allow the security forces to make the important decision concerning evacuating, barricading, effective decontamination of particular site or efficient pursuing of suspects. 

Last year, the squad raided an Escondido house after a 17-year-oId boy blew himself up with homemade explosives. Ten pipe bombs and a how-to text titled "Improvised Munitions Slack Book" were found. 

There are many ways to classify explosives, some of which are military, civilian, high-order, or low- order. Few bombings involve military explosives (e.g., PETN, RDX, TNT), because their availability is severely restricted. The most commonly used explosives are dynamite and homemade mixtures containing black powder, smokeless powder, or chlorate and sugar. Table E24-1 lists several explosives and their common abbreviations. The structures of several of these are shown in Table E24-2, p. 580. 

Low-order explosive mixtures made from commonly available chemicals have been termed improvised mixtures. The majority of the improvised mixtures used in criminal bombings in this country fall into two categories homemade black powder and homemade flash powders. These mixtures usually are confined in some container, such as a section of capped pipe, and initiated with an external burning pyrotechnic or homemade fuse. Homemade black powder is a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. It is usually poorly made, and unconsumed particles are abundant in the bomb debris. The components of this mixture can be identified chemically using techniques described previously. 

In July 2005, London was subjected to a series of terrorist attacks Bombs exploded on the public transport network at rush hour. Three bombs were detonated on trains in the London Undergroimd and one was detonated on the upper deck of a bus. It was initially thought that military-grade plastic explosives had been used in the attack on 7 July because it appeared that the explosions had been synchronised. However, it was later determined that the bombs were homemade devices consisting of triacetone triperox-ide (TATP). TATP is a peroxide-based explosive that is highly susceptible to shock, heat, and friction and is one of if not the most sensitive explosives known (Bubnikova et al. 2005). 

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