Homemade bombs widespread in Egypt
As clashes continue in Egypt between supporters and opponents of the interim regime, homemade bombs have begun to spread, with some groups claiming that they are a legitimate means for confronting the excessive violence of the police and security services.
Molotov cocktails have spread in the streets of Cairo and are being used around metro stations and in public squares. The manufacture of homemade bombs has begun to cause panic among residents, as hardly a day goes by without a bomb exploding, a bomb being seized, a bombing plot being foiled or someone in possession of a handmade bomb being detained.
An even bigger crisis might be close to surfacing with the proliferation of websites aimed at youth, in particular university students, instructing them on how to make bombs using simple tools and items at a low cost. The pro-Muslim Brotherhood National Alliance to Support Legitimacy was the most recent group to call on university students to learn how to make stun grenades, to hinder security forces pursuing them during demonstrations. The Authenticity Party, which belongs to the alliance, posted a video on Facebook showing how to make a handheld bomb and instructing students to use them against the police.
Purchasing the components to make these bombs does not raise suspicion, and it is easy to get rid of the material in the event of a raid. In addition, sniffer dogs cannot detect the components used to make such explosives. One can make a bomb in a day or two that is capable of killing 10 people and one deadly enough to kill dozens in a month.
Someone searching online for ways to manufacture homemade, handheld bombs might come across the Media Pulpit for Jihad website. The site explains, in detail, how to make a handheld grenade filled with shrapnel and nails, which can kill in a wide radius. There are hundreds of such sites, which typically begin with instructions for making stun grenades and basic smoke bombs and then proceed to more complex explosive devices, such as shrapnel, nail and chemical bombs. There are also pages explaining how to make electromagnetic explosives and even a few with instructions on building small hydrogen bombs.
