Used by jihadists everywhere from Paris and Brussels to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, the easy-to-make and deadly explosive TATP -- known as "the mother of Satan" -- has become the explosive of choice for the Islamic State group.
Discovered at the end of the 19th century by a German chemist, TATP or Triacetone Triperoxide is a homemade explosive created by mixing precise quantities of acetone, oxygenated water and sulfuric, hydrochloric or nitric acid -- all of which are easily available in high street stores.
Ingredients used
#Sulphuric acid
#Oxygenated water
#Acetone
Nail polish remover is essentially acetone, while oxygenated water is a commonly used disinfectant.
The mixture creates a coarse powder of white crystals that requires only a basic detonator to explode, triggering a huge blast of burning gas.
The most delicate part is adding the acid to the mixture, which lets off heat and can catch fire, but a simple mask is all that is normally needed for protection.
Trying to make TATP by watching an Internet tutorial could be fatal, and experts say it is taught first hand.
A detonator can be made with a thin metal tube filled with paste and linked to two electric wires that will spark and trigger a flame when connected. But they can just as easily be bought ready-made from a shop.
Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspected Paris attackers who was arrested in Brussels last week, bought a dozen pyrotechnic detonators at a fireworks store in the Paris region without raising the slightest suspicion.
Characteristics
#Easy to make
#Difficult to detect
#Powerful, but unstable
Jihadists have set up entire labs -- at first backroom affairs, but increasingly reaching industrial levels -- to produce TATP and other explosive materials in Syria and Iraq.
NGO Conflict Armament Research said in a report in 51 companies had supplied the components needed to make homemade explosives at semi-industrial levels to the IS.
The companies were spread across 20 countries, including Turkey and Russia, but also Belgium and the United States.
Terror timeline
#March 22, 2016 in Brussels
#November 13, 2015 in Paris
#July 7, 2005 in London
#December 22, 2001.. British born Richard Reid who tried to blow up a Boeing 767 with a shoe
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