A body cavity bomb (BCB) is an explosive device hidden inside the body of a person in order to commit a suicide attack.[1] Although this is a common plot device in fiction, very few instances of this are known to have occurred in real life, with only one publicly documented case.
On 27 August 2009, Asiri queued up at Mohammed bin Nayef's palace in Jeddah as a "well-wisher," a tradition in the kingdom during Ramadan. He exploded the device (perhaps with a mobile phone), killing himself, but only lightly injuring bin Nayef (who was protected from the full force of the blast by Asiri's body).[2][3] Assisted by his older brother, Ibrahim al-Asiri, he had hidden a pound (about 0.45kg) of PETNplastic explosives in his rectum and anal canal, which security experts described as a novel technique.[4][5] Asiri had passed through a metal detector and remained in the security of the Prince's bodyguards for over 24 hours before gaining the audience.[6] "I did not want him to be searched, but he surprised me by blowing himself up," said Mohammed bin Nayef.[7] The Saudi Gazette reported on October 22, 2009, that a Yemeni named Rayed Abdullah Salem Al Harbi assisted Asiri in preparing for his suicide mission.[8]
According to the American defense official Michael G. Vickers, a laparoscopicsurgeon had helped Abdullah's brother Ibrahim al-Asiri implant explosives inside suicide bombers. This surgeon was killed in 2012.[9]
Media speculation
In May 2012, various reporters leaked their acquisition of documents describing the preparation and use of such devices.[10][11][12] According to The Daily Mirror in the UK, security officials at the British Secret Intelligence Service asserted that female bombers could travel undetected carrying the explosive chemicals in otherwise standard breast implants.[13] The bomber would blow up the implanted explosives by injecting a chemical trigger.[12]
Analysis
Tactically speaking, the use and employment of the BCB falls into a category of tactics known as ‘in-situ’ attacks.[14] Several factors play into the (theoretical) effectiveness and (practical) deployability of BCBs:
Because their blast yield has been shown to range from low to negligible,[1] BCBs are suitable only for closed-in attacks, i.e. the attacker carrying the device has to be in direct contact with the target while detonating it), and
Like other explosive devices, BCBs have higher effectiveness when used indoors due to blast reflection and pressure wave confinement. Use in a less confined space (such as any open or outdoor environment) would (potentially severely) diminish damage potential.
Detection
Body cavity bombs are hard to detect by most non-invasive means. However, attempts have been made to create methods for detecting them using various physical principles, including nuclear quadrupole resonance.[15]
In fiction
The BCB has a long history in science fiction writing and film history. For example, in the 1957 novella "Run for the Stars" by Harlan Ellison, the drug-addicted protagonist has a bomb implanted in his abdomen to delay an advancing alien army, making him an involuntary suicide bomber.[16] Notwithstanding, in conventional security thinking, it has been noted that "placing bombs inside live human beings was still definitely not on the radar" prior to 2009.[1]
The concept of the BCB has been regularly used as a theatrical–plot device in many popular TV shows and movies since at least the late 1960s (and perhaps earlier), and a number of popular U.S. films and television series episodes have featured the BCB, "ironically illustrating many of the key tactical concepts herein—that is, it is hidden in the human body, camouflaged from intelligence sensors, and used for attacks on specific targets".[1] For example:
The U.S. film, Death Race 2000, a 1975 cult action film, in which one of the characters called ‘Frankenstein’ intends to assassinate the president by planning to shake his hand, detonating a grenade which has been implanted in the perpetrator's prosthetic right hand (who calls it his ‘hand grenade’).
The 1990 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘Reunion’ features an attempted assassination using a BCB hidden and undetected (from security sensors) inside a person's arm, requiring them to stand close to their intended target.
In 1999's Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace it is mentioned slaves on Tatooine are implanted with tracking devices that explode and kill the victim if they venture too far. A young Anakin Skywalker mentions trying to locate his and remove it prior to being freed by Qui Gon Jinn.
The 2001 U.S. science fiction movie Impostor, based on the 1953 short story Impostor by Philip K. Dick, features the use of BCBs. Set in the year 2079, the film's plot revolves around human 'replicants', created by hostile aliens, which are perfect biological copies of existing humans, complete with transplanted memories. This allows the 'replicants' to approach their targets camouflaged from detection. Each has a small, organic nuclear bomb in place of a heart, programmed to detonate when they are in proximity to their target.
The British television series Spooks features in its season 3 finale a woman carrying a chemical BCB in an attempt to murder the prime minister, the bomb contained in her stomach to avoid discovery.
The 2008 Batman film, The Dark Knight, also featured a BCB. In that film, a fictional scenario was portrayed where the Joker blew up a police station by means of a cell-phone activated bomb sewn into an unwilling victim's stomach.
The novel Eve of Destruction by Sylvia Day features several female protagonists who have been implanted with BCB devices.
The 2009 war film The Hurt Locker features a BCB when the body of a young Iraqi boy is found to have been surgically implanted with an unexploded bomb.
The 2015 video game Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes features two BCB's inside Paz, implanted by Skull Face as a set-up. One bomb is successfully removed, but the other explodes, killing Paz, destroying the helicopter that they were on and wounding Big Boss severely in the process.
In season one of the 2015 Israeli television series, Fauda, an operative of the Israel Defense Forces is kidnapped by Hamas and killed with a BCB.
In 2016 Indian TV serial, Diya Aur Baati Hum season 28 last episode also been ended with a body cavity bomb blast scene in which IPS Sandhya (actress) and her husband Sooraj (actor) were forced to eat the capsule bombs. In order to save the city from the blast both of them went to the river where they took their last breath.
In the book series, “The Unwind Dystology” by Neal Shusterman, Clappers are young terrorists that have introduced an undetectable chemical into their circulatory system that makes their blood explosive. They get their name because they detonate by bringing their hands together in powerful applause.
↑ Vickers, Michael G. (2023). By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy. Alfred A. Knopf. p.251. ISBN9781101947708.
↑ Daniel Klaidman, Christopher Dickey (2012-05-14). "Ibrahim al-Asiri: The Body Bomb Menace". Daily Beast. Retrieved 2012-05-14. Newsweek has learned that U.S. intelligence officials circulated a secret report that laid out in vivid detail how doctors working for al-Asiri had developed the surgical technique. An American government source familiar with the report described it as 15 to 20 pages, single spaced, and replete with schematics and pictures. "It was almost like something you'd see in Scientific American," the source said.mirror
↑ David Pescovitz (2012-05-14). "You da bomb! (surgically-implanted explosives)". Boing boing. Archived from the original on 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2012-05-14. According to Newsweek, US intelligence officials report that al Qaeda's explosives expert Ibrahim al-Asiri and medical doctors have been designing bombs to be surgically implanted into the bodies of suicide bombers. The idea is that the technique would somehow foil airport scanners. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You da bomb!"
1 2 Anissa Haddadi (2012-05-14). "Al-Qaida's 'Body Bombs' increase Fears of Global Attacks by Master Bomb-Maker Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved 2012-05-14. Experts and intelligence sources say the terrorists could use the powerful explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, known as PETN and insert it in the bodies of would-be suicide bombers. According to reports they would then be able to detonate the implanted explosives via injections. The bombs would not be detectable to airport body scanner, increasing risks of attacks similar to the 2011 September attack on the Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon.
↑ Collins, Michael London (2014). Detecting body cavity bombs with nuclear quadrupole resonance (Thesis). Northeastern University. doi:10.17760/d20018668. hdl:2047/d20018668.
↑ Weil, Ellen; Wolfe, Gary K. (2002). Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever. Ohio State University Press. pp.58–59. ISBN9780814208922.
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