Russia plotters join rogues gallery of foiled bombers

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The United States has provided intelligence to Russia that helped thwart a potentially deadly bomb attack on St. Petersburg, in a demonstration of the international cooperation needed as terrorists work across borders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned US President Donald Trump on Sunday to thank him for the tip-off, which the Kremlin said helped prevent a militant bomb attack on Kazansky Cathedral and other locations in Russia’s second largest city.

The US warning allowed Russian law enforcement agencies to arrest the suspects, identified by media as a group linked to ISIL.

There have been many such foiled bombing attempts in recent years, with plotters becoming ever more creative in their attempts to sow terror and chaos. Weimeng Yeo, a security analyst for Risk Management Solutions, warned in an article for The Straits Times at the start of the year that 2017 would see increased activity by militants experimenting with new technology.

That has indeed come to pass as the world has suffered death, destruction and near misses at a tempo that has caused the head of Britain’s MI5 security service to say that the country is facing the worst terror threat of his four-decade career.

Security agents have always worked hard to limit threats, so criminals have had to try some pretty wacky, desperate methods to get round the safeguards. Some failed bombings have achieved more cultural significance than very deadly ones. From the infamous to the bizarre, let’s take a look at some bombing plots that, thankfully, didn’t come off.

Where there’s smoke…

Who? Alleged advocates of Hong Kong independence

When? 2015

Where? Hong Kong, China

VCG Photo

A group in Hong Kong saw their plot fizzle when they were caught making explosives after flashes and smoke could be seen coming from a disused TV studio, according to prosecutors.

Cheng Wai-shing, 31, and Rizzy Pennelli, 24, had tried to mix nitrate salts and other chemicals into a solution capable of producing a firework-like effect in a plan intended to disrupt voting on the region’s electoral reform in 2015.

Police had found Cheng and Pennelli with various chemicals in their possession and at their homes. They were sentenced on Friday to 34 and 46 months in prison.

A third man, 36-year-old Chan Yiu-shing, was jailed for 26 months for possessing explosives.

The three were allegedly members of a group advocating so-called "Hong Kong independence".

Toying with counter-terrorism

Who? Four Lebanese-Australian brothers with ISIL ties

When? 2017

Where? Sydney-Abu Dhabi flight

Xinhua Photo

There’s nothing more innocent-looking than a child’s toy, which is probably why bomb plotters targeting a flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi chose a Barbie doll as well as a meat grinder to hide their explosives.

Lebanon’s interior minister, Nouhad Machnouk, revealed the plan in August, saying the explosives didn’t make it onto the plane because the handbag they were being carried in was 7kg over the airline’s weight limit.

Machnouk named four Lebanese-Australian brothers as the plotters. One brother, Amer Khayyat, has reportedly been detained in Lebanon while Khaled and Mahmoud Khayyat were arrested in Australia. The fourth, Tarek Khayyat, is claimed to be a senior ISIL member holed up in northern Syria.

According to Fox News, Australian officials have charged Khaled and Mahmoud with planning a terrorist act. They were arrested on July 29 and were due to appear in court before the end of this year, the report said.

These boots are made for… bombing

Who? A British Al-Qaida operative

When? 2001

Where? Paris-Miami flight

Xinhua Photo

British Muslim Richard Reid may have succeeded in his attempt to blow up an American Airlines flight in December 2001 by detonating explosives hidden in the soles of his shoes if it wasn’t for the bravery of other passengers. They subdued Reid after a flight attendant spotted him trying to light a fuse to his shoe.

The plane was carrying 197 passengers just three months after the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.

It is thought that sweat from Reid’s feet dampened the plastic explosives and stopped them from igniting. The risk of bombs stowed in footwear has since been taken very seriously by airlines, especially after al-Qaida sources claimed the group had recruited extremists for identical attacks. Shoe checks are now commonplace in airport security procedures around the world.

Reid, a self-proclaimed al-Qaida operative, is serving three life terms plus 110 years at a maximum security prison in the US. He has spoken of his “tactical regrets” that he did not manage to commit mass murder.

A model terrorist – the threat from above

Who? A US citizen supporting Al-Qaida

When? 2012

Where? US

VCG Photo

A US citizen of Bangladeshi descent was sentenced to 17 years in prison in November 2012 after he admitted planning to blow up the Pentagon and US Capitol using remote-controlled planes laden with C-4.

Rezwan Ferdaus, who had recently graduated with a physics degree from Northeastern University in Massachusetts at the time of the plot, was also charged with attempting to supply material support to al-Qaida for attacks on US soldiers overseas.

Ferdaus developed explosives devices that he supplied to FBI agents whom he believed were al-Qaida operatives, prosecutors said at his trial.

Model airplanes are one of the most unusual proposed carriers for bombs, but they aren’t the only aircraft we should be worried about. Authorities in India, Pakistan and other countries are aware of terror cells plotting to use drones, hot air balloons and even paragliders to drop bombs.

ASEAN leaders in the crosshairs

Who? Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf

When? 2017

Where? Manila

Xinhua Photo

Philippine police said last month that they had foiled a militant plot to bomb a Manila shopping mall as world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, were arriving in the city for the ASEAN Summit.

Three alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf militant group were arrested on Nov. 10, the authorities said, after police noticed one of the suspects boasting on Facebook of a plan to launch a terror attack.

The posts included photographs of improvised explosive devices, with captions saying they would be used to kill “kafir” (non-Muslims).

Thankfully, the three-day ASEAN Summit closed without any security incidents.

Gunpowder treason

Who? English Catholics

When? 1605

Where? London

Global Times Photo

Probably history’s most infamous foiled bombing is the “Gunpowder Plot” through which a group of English Catholics aimed to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords on Nov. 5, 1605. They leased a cellar underneath the country’s political headquarters and stocked it with 36 barrels of gunpowder, ready to be set off during the state opening of parliament.

Though Robert Catesby was the leader, the group’s best-known member is Guy Fawkes, who was discovered guarding the gunpowder after an anonymous letter tipped authorities off about the scheme.

In the UK, the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot is commemorated every year on Bonfire Night, when effigies of unpopular figures are burned on a pyre, fireworks are set off and people recite a nursery rhyme with the lyrics “Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. We see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!”

Representations of Fawkes often top the bonfire, though he has become something of a folk hero to many in modern times. Masks with a stylized depiction of his mustached face are worn by anti-government and anti-establishment plotters around the world.