Spanish cops have found traces of the easy-to-make but deadly explosive TATP—known as the ‘mother of Satan’—in a house where the perpetrators of last week’s terror attacks in Spain were believed to be building bombs. What is TATP (Triacetone triperoxide)?
Islamic State’s explosive of choice
Used by jihadists everywhere from Paris and Brussels to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, the dangerously unstable TATP has become the explosive of choice for the Islamic State, which claimed last week’s attacks in Spain, according to AFP
The chemical is extremely unstable, and it just takes a firm tap to explode with a force that can be 80 per cent stronger than TNT—hence the name ‘mother of Satan’. The Spanish suspects had been preparing bombs for “one or more attacks in Barcelona”. But the volatility of TATP led to the accidental explosion in their bomb factory in Alcanar. This forced the suspects to alter their plans; they then decided to rent a van
Nail polish, water and acid
Discovered at the end of the 19th century by a German chemist, TATP is a homemade explosive created by mixing precise quantities of acetone (found in nail polish), oxygenated water and sulphuric, hydrochloric or nitric acid—all of which are easily available, AFP adds
Jihadist labs produce it on an industrial scale
Jihadists have set up entire labs—at first backroom affairs, but now reaching industrial levels—to produce TATP and other explosive materials in Syria and Iraq. The UK-based Conflict Armament Research last year said 51 companies had supplied the components needed to make homemade explosives to IS