UFO Info Week-End

They can be very deadly in a confined space

“They can be very deadly in a confined space.” The second type of bomb part appears to be film-wrapped packages of explosives of the type almost certainly used in the rucksack bombs carried by the 7 July suicide bombers. “The nails are simply there to increase the destructive power of the bomb,” Mr Oppenheimer said. There are sharp, short nails or tacks stuck on the outside and the whole thing is covered in plastic wrap. Andy Oppenheimer, an explosives specialist for Jane’s Information Group, said the photographs showed “simple and deadly” bombs.

“These are easy to make and are of a type which has been used by Ulster gangs and Palestinian terrorists in Israel to deadly effect,” he said. The nail bombs appear to be milk bottles packed with explosives, possibly acetone peroxide made from household chemicals, mixed with what might be military plastic explosive to stabilise it and increase its power. The Nissan was hired by Tanweer and is believed to have been used to bring the other two Leeds-based terrorists, Hussain and Khan. It is unclear whether explosives were found in the Fiat left at the station by Lindsay.

Weapons specialists agreed the Luton discoveries suggested the terrorists may have been planning to throw the nail bomb into crowded places. It may be that the four suicide bombers – Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, Shahzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18, and Germaine Lindsay, 19 – merely brought with them a choice of devices and dumped the ones they did not need. Was the car a bomb store for another team of bombers who, for whatever reason, failed to collect them? Security sources have said there is no evidence yet of a “missing” team. The nail bomb poses the question of whether terrorists were planning a different form of attack.

The disclosure of a cache of different types of bomb components raises disturbing questions. The confidential Metro-politan Police photographs were shown yesterday on the American television network ABC News. Pictures of the carnage caused by the suicide bomber at King’s Cross, in which 27 died, were also broadcast. It is the latest leak to come from the United States and has caused anger among British police and intelligence agencies. Security agencies warned after the 7 July attacks on three Tube trains and a bus that future attacks could be against nightclubs, sports stadiums or large public gatherings. The warning could have been related to the bombs in the car used by the Leeds-based terrorists.

They include a Molotov cocktail-style bottle bomb, packed with explosive and studded with nails. The 16 bomb parts found in Luton, including one nail device and a number of other packets of explosives, were discovered by police in a rented Nissan Micra at the main railway station five days after the 7 July attack. The types of bombs are far more alarming than police had previously disclosed. Police also released a new picture yesterday of the unidentified Shepherd’s Bush bomber, and gave details of his escape after his device failed to go off on 21 July. Three suspected failed bombers are still being hunted and officers mounted several raids in London and made several arrests around the country. The discovery provides another link with the men behind the 21 July attacks on London, one of whom used a similar device.