Summary
Overview
MI5 discovers through covert surveillance that Abdullah Ahmed Ali and his accomplices are constructing sophisticated liquid bombs designed to be smuggled onto transatlantic flights. The plot, masterminded by Rashid Rauf from Pakistan, involves disguising hydrogen peroxide explosives in drink bottles to simultaneously attack multiple flights to North America, potentially rivaling or exceeding the devastation of 9/11. As MI5 watches bomb-making in real-time and Ali researches flight schedules, tensions mount between British and American intelligence services over how to handle the imminent threat.
Breaking into the Bomb Factory
MI5 successfully conducts a covert entry operation into the Forest Road flat in East London, installing audio and video surveillance by early August 2006. The cameras reveal Ali and Tanvir Hussain spending five and a half hours in the kitchen drilling holes in drink bottles, discussing batteries and hydrogen peroxide, and exclaiming "that's the boom, mate." This unprecedented real-time access allows investigators to watch actual bomb construction unfold, providing crucial evidence that wouldn't make sense without the visual context.
- MI5 installs audio and video surveillance in the Forest Road flat by start of August 2006
- Surveillance cameras show first video evidence of bomb making with men drilling holes in Oasis and Lucozade bottles
- Ali and Tanvir Hussain spend five and a half hours working in the kitchen
- Surveillance captures them saying 'that's the boom, mate, the boom' while discussing their work
" that's the boom, mate, the boom "
The Liquid Bomb Design Revealed
Through surveillance, investigators decode the sophisticated bomb construction method involving hollowed-out Pakistani batteries filled with HMTD explosive, modified flashlight bulbs as initiators, and drink bottles filled with colored hydrogen peroxide. The bombers drill from the bottom of bottles without breaking the cap seal, drain the original liquid, inject hydrogen peroxide dyed with Tang powder to match the original color, and reseal with resin. These tiny devices are only 1/40th the strength of the 7/7 bombs, raising the crucial question of where such small, disguised explosives would be most effective.
- Pakistani batteries are easier to hollow out than UK batteries, solving the mystery of Ali's battery imports
- Bombs use modified Maglite bulb filaments as initiators activated by disposable camera flash buttons
- Drink bottles are emptied through bottom holes and refilled with hydrogen peroxide
- Tang powder is used to color the hydrogen peroxide to match the original drink appearance
- The bombs are only 1/40th the strength of the July 7, 2005 bombs
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