The minor blasts put emergency services on high alert.
CAIRO, July 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The failure of the Thursday's attempted suicide bombings in London transport system was the major focus of British dailies and explosives experts Friday, July 22, probing whether the blasts were intended to cause greater harm or only meant to "send a message of fear".
In exactly the same pattern of the July 7 attacks, which left 56 people killed and more than 700 injured, rucksack-based devices were placed on three subway trains Thursday with a fourth on a bus, all at locations dotted around London.
Three devices -- the one on the bus and two on Underground trains -- appeared to explode in some way, but the effect of the blasts was minimal and no one injured.
"It may be that there was a malfunction but it is not certain that there was substantial explosive in the devices," Andy Oppenheimer, an explosives expert at Jane's Information Group, was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
He added the small blasts could have been down to the bombs failing to explode properly or there being little explosive present.
"This type of malfunction used to happen to the IRA (Irish Republican Army), who had expert bomb-makers ... It could be bad workmanship or it could be a deliberate attempt to disrupt the city two weeks later."
However, an army bomb disposal expert told the daily that it was very unlikely that four devices would malfunction in the same way at the same time.
"It is possible for the detonator to come out and just explode. The chances of all four doing that are remote."
"Unclear"
Security measures were tightened everywhere in Britain following the attacks.
Other explosives experts said it was still unclear why the devices failed to explode properly.
"It could be they weren't constructed properly, it could be the explosives exceeded the age of their usefulness, or it could have been just sloppy handling," Jim Ludwiczak, president of Kentucky-based Blasting and Mining Consultants, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
However, Professor Hans Michels, of Imperial College, London, told the Times newspaper that it was "extremely improbable" that all four devices would have failed to explode.
"It may be that the object this time was not to kill people but to cause chaos," he said.
Theories
Not knowing yet if the Thursday's failed blasts were assigned to commit mass murder or only to sow panic rather than to kill, The Independent has drawn up four theories on the new wave of attacks and the party behind.
The British daily said the attacks could have been carried out by a cell linked to the July 7 bombers and aimed to commit mass murder.
It put another theory that the blasts were carried out by a cell linked to the group responsible for the July 7 attacks and aimed to sow panic rather than kill.
It questioned that if the attacks were designed to kill as many people as possible, why did the attackers use such small quantities of explosives?
But if they wanted to sow panic, they succeeded as police, for the first time in London, wore chemical-weapons protection to investigate the incidents, it added.
The attacks also caused Tubes, a bus and buildings in four London districts to be evacuated. Part of the Tube system was paralyzed, adding to a network which is already heavily handicapped by the aftermath of the 7 July attacks.
The daily has drawn other two theories that Thursday's incidents were copycat bombing by another "extremist Islamic group" or copycat blasts by a non-Islamic group.
The Abu Hafs Al Masri Brigade, an Al-Qaeda-linked group which claimed responsibility for the July 7 bombings, posted a statement on an Islamist Web site on Friday claiming it carried out the Thursday's attacks.