Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)

Recent news reports have brought main-stream attention to AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) and one of the current bomb makers, Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri. So, what is AQAP and how dangerous is Ibrahim al-Asiri?

The AQAP emerged in January 2009 consisting of Yemeni and Saudi Arabian radicals under the leadership of Amir Masir al-Wahish and Qasim al-Rimi. AQAP's goals are to support the activities of al Qaeda and establish strict Islamic law throughout the world (Bolz, Dubonis, & Schulz, 2012). Collectively, AQAP and Al Qaeda were responsible for the publication called Inspire, an English radical Muslim magazine that provided information on how to construct IEDs and other weapons. The magazine also encouraged radical violent acts and allowed similar-minded individuals to contact each other.

The CIA has described AQAP as a major threat to U.S. security (Bolz et. al., 2012) and they have been known to use explosives, assault weapons, and other small arm weapons. White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan has stated that the AQAP is "the most active operational franchise" of al Qaeda outside Afghanistan and Pakistan. The AQAP has gained a reputation for being innovative and very active recently from three major incidents that can be attributed to bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri and other radical Islamists.

Ibrahim al-Asiri was responsible for the construction of a device used by his brother, Abdullah al-Asiri, in the failed assassination attempt of Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef on August 27th, 2009 (Stewart, 2012). Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was in charge of the kingdom's counter-terrorism efforts and was conducting a social appearance during the celebration of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef also used the appearance to show the media a Saudi man who was a wanted militant from AQAP and was willing to publicly renounce terrorism (Stewart, 2012). The Saudi man, Abdullah al-Asiri, asked to meet the prince in order to repent and then be accepted into the kingdom's amnesty program. Prior to meeting the prince, al-Asiri was screened by security and a metal detector did not pick up any abnormalities. Unbeknownst to the security staff, al-Asiri has inserted 100 grams of pentaerythritol tetranitrate inside his rectum (Stewart, 2012). Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is a powerful relatively stable high explosive which is part of the same chemical family as nitroglycerin. Once al-Asiri was close to the prince, the device detonated ripping al-Asiri in half and thankfully the prince survived. The prince survived due to the downward blast of the device and al-Asiri's body absorbed most of the impact of the blast (Stewart, 2012). Following this failed assassination attempt Ibrahim al-Asiri then used his creative bomb making capabilities to construct the device used on Northwest Flight 253.

On December 25th, 2009 the AQAP claimed credit for the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 as it approached Detroit. The attempted bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tried to detonate a 6 inch package of PETN powder sewn into his underwear.   Umar Abdulmutallab attempted to mix the PETN and liquid acid with triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a high explosive that was also used by shoe bomber Richard Reid in 2001. Thankfully, other passengers noticed foul odours and the flames on Umar's pant legs and subdued him and extinguished the fire before his attack was carried out. After arrest, Umar Abdulmutallab advised that he obtained the device in Yemen and he was directed by al Qaeda to carry out the attack.

The third device that al-Asiri has been considered responsible for is the attempted attack against two U.S. cargo aircraft in October 2010. The two devices were located aboard UPS and FedEx planes addressed to synagogues in Chicago, but counter-terrorism experts believe the devices were intended to blow up the planes once over the United States. The devices consisted of PETN and were hidden inside printer cartridges. The printer itself contained an electrical switch that was connected to a mobile phone SIM card (Stewart, 2012).

Although Ibrahim al-Asiri devices have not been successfully in destroying their intended targets, his innovative and out-of-the-box thinking regarding bomb designs pose a great threat to America and other allies. In previous designs, al-Asiri demonstrated that he is able to create devices that potentially can pass undetected by security screening personnel. This possesses a great hazard particularly to airlines because they are vulnerable; and terrorist attacks generate a large causality rate and extensive press coverage. Until his apprehension, Ibrahim al-Asiri poses a great terrorist threat since his devices are becoming more and more difficult to detect. Tragically, recent media reports have speculated that AQAP may use pets and humans as containers for surgically implanted explosives in the future. With bomb makers like Ibrahim al-Asiri working for the AQAP, I am afraid in time the media reports might actually become true.

References

Bolz, F., Dudonis, K. & Schulz, D. (2012). The Counterterrorism Handbook: Tactics, Procedures, and Techniques-4th Ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Stewart, S. (2012). AQAP: Paradigm Shifts and Lessons Learned. Retrieved from http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090902_aqap_paradigm_shifts_and_lessons_learned on 05/12/12.