Forensics

Brussels terrorists probably used explosive nicknamed ‘the Mother of Satan’

Police have found a peroxide-based explosive known as triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, in the apartment of one of the suspected bombers, although investigators have yet to say conclusively what type of devices were used Tuesday. But if TATP was the primary ingredient in the bombs, the attack in Brussels would become the latest example of the chemical’s use in terrorist strikes across Europe.Highly unstable, peroxide-based explosives such as TATP — and its sibling hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, or HMTD — have been used in terrorist bombs for decades. TATP first gained notoriety after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when Richard Reid, who became known as the shoe bomber, unsuccessfully tried to detonate a TATP-triggered explosive during a Paris to Miami flight in December 2001.