Fertiliser bomb, a 'formidable weapon'

LONDON: A gang jailed on Monday for plotting bombings across Britain could have produced a "formidable weapon" potentially more deadly than bombs used to kill hundreds, a security expert said.   

Graham Smith, of Britain's National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said the 600 kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser the gang possessed could have produced a device with the same devastating power as 500 kg of TNT high explosive.   

"A 600 kg fertiliser device would be a formidable weapon. The blast wave and fragmentation would travel several hundred metres," Smith said.   

"Such a device would be capable of causing progressive building collapse which could in itself cause significant casualties."   

Fertiliser-based bombs remain the explosive of choice for many militant groups across the world, including those with links to al Qaeda and fertiliser has been the basic ingredient for some of the most destructive incidents in recent years.   

It was used in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 and a year later in attacks on the HSBC bank headquarters and the British Consulate in Istanbul in which 32 people died.  

It is easy to make a homemade bomb out of farmyard fertiliser, although it requires someone with a degree of skill to set it off.   

"Simply mixing in a suitable fuel in the correct proportions will result in a powerful, reliable and stable explosive mixture," Smith said.   

"Actually detonating the explosive requires considerably more expertise and requires a boosting explosive and detonator -- although these can also be homemade."   

The British gang could have broken their 600 kg quantity into much smaller amounts as even 10 kg would make a substantial bomb capable of causing deaths and injuries.   

Another advantage is that fertiliser costs very little, selling in Britain for about 150-170 pounds per tonne.   

As a result of the potential risk posed by fertiliser which is regularly used in the agricultural industry -- domestic fertiliser available in garden centres would not work -- measures have been taken to improve security.   

"There is still more work to be done at the farm level where large stores of ammonium nitrate fertiliser can be found," Smith said.

"The challenge is to secure this fertiliser from theft without undue hindrance to the farming community."