Bombs Were Made From 6-Litre Pressure Cookers; Recipe for DIY Pressure-Cooker Bomb Had Been Promoted by Al Qaeda Magazine "Inspire"

Not pipe bombs, then.

A person briefed on the Boston Marathon investigation says the explosives were in 6-liter pressure cookers and placed in black duffel bags.

The person says the explosives were placed on the ground and contained shards of metal, nails and ball bearings. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

The person says law enforcement officials have some of the bomb components but did not yet know what was used to set off the explosives.

Via The Jawa Report, an Al Qaeda DIY bomb-making recipe specifies just this type of device. The below is taken from Samir Khan's jihadi magazine "Inspire."

[S]ix pounds of smokeless powder, Christmas lights and battery operated clocks which were apparently intended to create a timing and triggering device of some type, sugar, shrapnel, pressure cooker, shot guns shells that were in the process of being dismantled to obtain their raw explosives.

...

The explosion that results from this device is a mechanical one. It results from the pressure caused by the gases and therefore it only works if contained in a high pressure environment. So you may use iron pipes, pressure cookers, fire extinguishers, or empty propane canisters....

The pressurized cooker is the most effective method.

...

You may substitute the inflammable substance extracted from matches by gunpowder used in cartilages.

Via @simontemplar and @laurawalkerkc.

Note: I suppose I should say the obvious: Improvised explosive designs are obviously not subject to patent and can be used by anyone. And people imitate other people's "tech" (I suppose this is a form of technology). I don't think that just because the bomb types were promoted by jihadis is any kind of strong proof that the bomber was a jihadi or read jihadi magazines. I'm pretty sure that the IRA, for example, knows all about this particular bomb type.

It's marginally suggestive but only marginally.

Update: Suspect at Hospital Cleared? Search of Home "Fruitless"? Via Walrus Rex, Suspect One is now Bystander One?

The day after two powerful bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, a mile-square area around Copley Square here remained cordoned off as a crime scene, and officials still had no one in custody. Investigators searched a house in a nearby suburb late Monday night, but later said the search had proved fruitless…

Late Monday night, law enforcement officials descended on an apartment building in the suburb of Revere, about five miles north of Copley Square, linked to a man the police took into custody near the scene of the bombings. But on Tuesday morning, one law enforcement official said investigators had determined that the man, who was injured in the blast and was questioned at the hospital, was not involved in the attack.

One cop's belief doesn't make it so, but it is worth noting.

Never felt right to me.

posted by Ace at 12:29 PM

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