The unsuccessful ISIS-inspired attack in New York City, Monday morning, reminds us of two fortunate truths.
First, making a high-quality explosive device and detonator is a complex task. For various reasons, this means that most terrorist suspects are caught before they can initiate their attacks.
Second, the instability of cruder explosive devices means that many terrorists end up maiming or killing themselves and no one else. There’s a poetic justice to a failed terrorist burning in a pool of his own blood, awaiting a lifetime in prison.
Here are five other times that Islamist terrorists seriously injured or killed themselves and no one else.
1) Kafeel Ahmed (inspired by al Qaeda in Iraq)
In 2007, Ahmed and a co-conspirator crashed a car laden with propane gas canisters into a British airport. They sought to kill innocents gathering in the terminal but utterly failed to do so. Instead, Ahmed set himself on fire and died a few days later after suffering critical burns to most of his body. But get this amusing tidbit: as he exited the burning vehicle, Ahmed still tried to attack some bystanders. Unfortunately for the terrorist, being that he was in Glasgow (one of Britain’s rougher cities), the bystanders beat him up!
2) Richard Reid (al Qaeda)
The so-called “shoe bomber,” in December 2001, Reid attempted to detonate explosives on a transatlantic aircraft heading to the United States. Failing to ignite his explosives and thus kill hundreds of people, Reid was restrained by cabin crew and passengers, and taken off to spend the rest of his life in a supermax prison. Hilariously, Reid has frequently complained that he is socially isolated in prison.
3) Umar Abdulmutallab (al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula)
Traveling on a transatlantic passenger aircraft on Christmas Day 2009, Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate an explosive device concealed around his underwear. Instead, he was left with serious burns to a less-than-ideal location of his body. He’s now imprisoned with Richard Reid in Florence, Colorado.
4) Omar Khan Sharif (Hamas)
Mr. Sharif sought to blow up Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv. After his suicide bomb belt failed, Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to steal a security guard’s identification card and ran off towards the Mediterranean Sea. Sharif’s body washed up on a Tel Aviv beach over a week later. What happened to him in the interim period of his sea escapade and body washing up? We don’t know, but seeing as Tel Aviv is way far away from Gaza, I like to think he was chatting with Shin Bet.
5) Abdullah al Asiri (al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula)
Brother to al Qaeda’s master bomb-maker, Ibrahim al Asiri (probably responsible for helping ISIS build its external action explosives campaign), Abdullah died when he attempted to kill future-Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef. After inserting an explosive device into his rectum, Abdullah gained proximity to bin Nayef by pretending he was a reformed terrorist. Fortunately, Abdullah’s internal organs, bone, and muscle contained most of the blast, and he was unable to kill anyone but himself.
BONUS: The guy who tried to kill Marines in Anbar province (al Qaeda in Iraq?)
While this incident doesn’t involve explosives, it deserves your attention.
During a circa-2006 deployment of the 5th Marine Regiment to Anbar province, Iraq, insurgents attempted to shoot Marines out on patrol. They failed and tried to escape by driving off down a warren of back alleys and roads. The Marines weren’t having it. As the Marines angrily shouted at each other and at the insurgent, their Sergeant sought to ensure they didn’t crash, shouting “slow the **** down!” The Marines eventually caught up with the terrorists and shot them. Their only remaining task was to explain to a likely not-so-happy officer why they left their patrol sector and risked themselves being caught or killed. You can watch the video below.
