WASHINGTON
(TheBlaze/AP) — The explosives used in the deadly Boston Marathon
bombing were contained in 6-liter pressure cookers and hidden in black
duffel bags on the ground, a person briefed on the investigation told
The Associated Press on Tuesday.
One of the explosives contained shards of metal and ball bearings, and another contained nails, the person said.
A
second person briefed on the investigation confirmed that at least one
of the explosives was made out of a pressure cooker. Both spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
“Pressure
cooker” bombs have been in the news before. As the Christian Science
Monitor noted in July 2011, when Army Pfc. Naser Abdo was caught
plotting to blow up Ft. Hood, he was caught with plans to make such
bombs — instructions he got from an al-Qaeda magazine.
A soldier suspected of plotting a bomb and handgun attack against military personnel at Fort Hood, Texas, was using a bombmaking recipe from an Al Qaeda-linked online magazine, according to federal court documents released on Friday.
Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo
has been charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device
and ordered held without bond. At the time of his arrest on Wednesday,
law-enforcement officials recovered a handgun, assorted bombmaking
materials, and an article entitled, “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your
Mom.”
[...]
According to the FBI affidavit, at the time of his arrest by the Killeen Police Department, Abdo was carrying a backpack. In addition to the bombmaking article, it contained two clocks, two spools of wire, Winchester .40 caliber ammunition, and a Springfield
.40 caliber handgun. He was also carrying a composition notebook with a
list that included: “red black green wire; 9v bat, Christmas lights;
pressure cooker; power drill; 160 gunpowder; gorilla tape; motal epoxy,
glue; 1 small box of shotgun shells; cardboard box; gloves.”
Police
and federal agents later searched his hotel room – No. 230 at America’s
Best Value Inn and Suites in Killeen. Among items seized: “electric
drill; two clocks; six bottles of smokeless gunpowder; five cut shotgun
shells; three Springfield ammunition magazines; four razorblades;
shotgun pellets; and two pressure cookers.”
According
to the affidavit, Abdo was questioned by law-enforcement officials
shortly after his arrest and confirmed his intention to carry out an
attack.
“Abdo
admitted that he planned to assemble two bombs in the hotel room using
gun powder and shrapnel packed into pressure cookers to detonate inside
an unspecified restaurant frequented by soldiers from Fort Hood,” the
affidavit says.
Two
bombs blew up seconds apart Monday at the finish line of one of the
world’s most storied races, tearing off victims’ limbs and leaving the
streets spattered with blood and strewn with broken glass. Three people
were killed, including an 8-year-old boy, and more than 170 were
wounded.
President
Barack Obama said called the explosions a terrorist attack and said law
enforcement and intelligence officials were trying to determine who was
responsible. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings.
These
types of pressure cooker explosives have been used in Afghanistan,
India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a July 2010 joint FBI and
Homeland Security intelligence report. One of the three devices used in
the May 2010 Times Square attempted bombing was a pressure cooker, the
intelligence report said.
“Placed carefully, such devices provide little or no indication of an impending attack,” the report said.
The
Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the 2010 attempt in
Times Square, has denied any role in the Boston Marathon attack.
Law
enforcement has not yet determined what was used to set off the
explosives. Typically, these bombs have an initiator, switch and
explosive charge, according to a 2004 warning from the Homeland Security
Department about these types of explosives.
“We
will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects
who are responsible for this despicable crime, and we will do everything
we can to bring them to justice,” said Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent
in charge in Boston.
Investigators in Boston are combing surveillance tapes and pictures from Monday.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/16/breaking-details-ap-says-explosives-used-in-bombings-contained-in-6-liter-pressure-cookers-and-placed-in-duffel-bags/
No comments:
Post a Comment