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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: History of High-Profile Bombing Attacks." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24862.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: History of High-Profile Bombing Attacks." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24862.
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Event (Location) Main Charge Mass (lb) Booster Initiator
1970-Sterling Hall Bombing (Madison, Wl) ANFO 2,000 Dynamite Caps
1983-Beirut Barracks Bombing (Beirut, Lebanon) PETN 20,000 u u
1983-US Embassy Bombings (Beirut, Lebanon) ANFO 2,000 u u
1992-St. Mary Axe Bombing (London, United Kingdom) CAN/IS 1,000-2,000 S/DC u
1993-World Trade Center Bombing (New York, NY) Urea Nitrate 1,200 NG/AN u
1993-Bishopsgate Bombing (London, United Kingdom) CAN/IS 2,000-4,000 S/DC u
1995-Oklahoma City Bombing (Oklahoma City, OK) AN/NM 5,000 Commercial Caps
1996-Manchester Shopping Mall (Manchester, United Kingdom) CAN/IS 1,000-3,000 S/DC u
1996-South Quay bombing (London, United Kingdom) CAN/IS 1,000-3,000 S/DC u
1996-Khobar Towers Bombing (Khobar, Saudi Arabia) C4 20,000 u
1998-US Embassy Bombings (Tanzania, Kenya) TNT 2,000 u
1999-Millennial Bomber Interdiction (Port Angeles, WA) Urea Nitrate <500 EGDN HMTD
2000-USS Cole Bombing (Aden, Yemen) Mil. Exp. 1,000 u
2001-Shoe Bomber (AA Flight 63) PETN <1 DC TATP
2002-Bali Nightclub Bombing (Bali, Indonesia) KCIO3/S/AI 2,000 DC u
2003-Marriott Hotel Jakarta Bombing (Jakarta, Indonesia) KCIO3/S/AI 100 u u
2003-British Consulate Bombing (Istanbul, Turkey) AN/AI 1,000-2,000 u
2003-Casablanca Bombings (Casablanca, Morocco) TATP/AN 10-20 u
2004-Australian Embassy Attack (Jakarta, Indonesia) KCIO3/S/AI 1,000-2,000 u u
2004-US Consulate Failed Attack (Karachi, Pakistan) CHP/Flour <2,000 Caps
2004-Disrupted Jordanian Attack (Amman, Jordan) CHP/Cumin >10,000 NG Caps
2004-US Embassy Attack (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) AN/AI 10-20 u
2004-Madrid Train Bombings (Madrid, Spain) Dynamite 10-20 u
2005-7/7 Underground Bombing (London, United Kingdom) CHP/Black Pepper 10-20 TATP
2005-7/21 Bombing (London, United Kingdom) CHP/Flour 10-20 TATP
2006-Operation Overt (London, United Kingdom) CHP/Tang <1 HMTD
2006-Disrupted Plot (Ontario, Canada) ANFO 6,000-7,000 u u
2007-Disrupted Bomb (Ramstein, Germany) CHP/Flour 1,000 u u
2008-US Embassy Attack (Sana’a, Yemen) TNT 100 u
2009-Underwear Bomber (NWA Flight 253) PETN <1 TATP
2009-Operation Highrise Interdiction (Denver, CO/New York, NY) CHP/Flour 10 TATP
2010-Printer Bombs (United Kingdom/United Arab Emirates) PETN <1 MF
2010-Failed Times Square Plot (New York, NY) AN/IS/Sawdust 100 Pyrotechnics
2011 -Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari Plot (Lubbock, TX) Picric Acid 10-20 TATP
2011-Oslo Bombing (Oslo, Norway) ANFO/CAN/AI/MB 2,000 Picric Acid DDNP
2012-Aurora Theater Shooting (Aurora, CO) BP 10-20 KPMG/Thrm
2013-Boston Marathon Bombings (Boston, MA) Pyrotechnics 10-20 u
2015-Paris Attacks (Paris, France) TATP 10-20 u
2016-Brussels Attacks (Brussels, Belgium) TATP 30-40 u
2016-Ahmad Khan Rahami (New York/New Jersey) AN ET/BP/HMTD 1-10 u
2017-Concert Bombing (Manchester, United Kingdom) TATP u

NOTE: AN: ammonium nitrate, AN/FO: ammonium nitrate / fuel oil, PETN: pentaerythritol tetranitrate, CAN: calcium ammonium nitrate, NM: nitromethane, TATP: triacetone triperoxide, BP: black powder, CHP: concentrated hydrogen peroxide, TNT: trinitrotoluene, MB: micro-balloons, Mil. Exp.: military explosives, u: unknown, NG: nitroglycerine, EGDN: ethylene glycol dinitrate, DDNP: diazodinitrophenol, IS: icing sugar, S/DC: semtex/detcord, MF: mercury fulminate, KPMG: potassium permanganate / glycerin, Thrm: thermite, ET: exploding target mixture.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: History of High-Profile Bombing Attacks." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24862.
×
Page 153
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: History of High-Profile Bombing Attacks." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24862.
×
Page 154
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Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a type of unconventional explosive weapon that can be deployed in a variety of ways, and can cause loss of life, injury, and property damage in both military and civilian environments. Terrorists, violent extremists, and criminals often choose IEDs because the ingredients, components, and instructions required to make IEDs are highly accessible. In many cases, precursor chemicals enable this criminal use of IEDs because they are used in the manufacture of homemade explosives (HMEs), which are often used as a component of IEDs.

Many precursor chemicals are frequently used in industrial manufacturing and may be available as commercial products for personal use. Guides for making HMEs and instructions for constructing IEDs are widely available and can be easily found on the internet. Other countries restrict access to precursor chemicals in an effort to reduce the opportunity for HMEs to be used in IEDs. Although IED attacks have been less frequent in the United States than in other countries, IEDs remain a persistent domestic threat. Restricting access to precursor chemicals might contribute to reducing the threat of IED attacks and in turn prevent potentially devastating bombings, save lives, and reduce financial impacts.

Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals prioritizes precursor chemicals that can be used to make HMEs and analyzes the movement of those chemicals through United States commercial supply chains and identifies potential vulnerabilities. This report examines current United States and international regulation of the chemicals, and compares the economic, security, and other tradeoffs among potential control strategies.

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