Almost 20 years ago, police foiled what many regard as the deadliest terror plot ever to be detected on British soil.
Directed by al-Qaeda, a network of UK-based jihadists planned to take down multiple transatlantic flights in a coordinated attack that would have killed thousands of victims, spread international terror and brought air travel to a halt. They devised a completely novel method – liquid bombs disguised as unopened bottles of Oasis and Lucozade soft drinks, and detonated using modified disposable cameras – designed explicitly to bypass airport security checks.
But the security services were watching as their preparations progressed in 2006, and after one of the biggest surveillance operations of its kind, arrested the terrorists in August of that year before they could put their deadly plans into action. But while the plot was foiled, its impact continues to be felt to this day, in the form of initially “temporary” safety restrictions on hand luggage that airports are still struggling to lift.
On the morning after the would-be terrorists were arrested, August 10 2006, a government security alert caused immediate restrictions to be imposed on carry-on bags on flights taking off from Britain and around the world. It meant passengers were only able to carry essential items on flights – prescription medicines, for instance, and baby formula. Restrictions were gradually relaxed until November 3 of that year when new hand-baggage rules were brought in, limiting the amount of liquid in any container to 100ml, and one litre in total – the same rules that remain in force today.
Following the 2006 terror plot, liquid restrictions in hand luggage were introduced, setting the stage for the travel rules still in place today – David Gee 4/Alamy Stock Photo
Indeed, while the six would-be suicide bombers remain in prison serving life sentences and the case has largely faded from public memory, its impact is still being felt around the world through these same safety measures brought in to prevent copycats from attempting a similar attack. Peter Clarke, who at the time was the head of the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terrorist branch, says, “I remember sitting in a Cobra meeting when the restrictions were first being suggested, and thinking ‘Oh my goodness, this is going to cause all sorts of problems and delays at airports.’
“The planning for the actual security measures was led by the Department of Transport, and they decided what mitigating factors were needed in light of what we were saying to them about the methodology we’d discovered.”
Because the security services couldn’t risk tipping the plotters off to the surveillance operation tracking their every move, communication over the new restrictions had to be limited and airports had little time to prepare. When the security alert first kicked in, chaos ensued. A parliamentary report issued the following year found that after the August 10 security ruling, British Airways alone had to cancel 1,283 flights, affecting over 100,000 passengers, because of delays at security – and airlines reported millions in losses.
Even after the restrictions bedded in, the House of Commons Transport Committee described “longer queues, increased waiting times to go through security and increasing intrusion for passengers”, and said that airlines themselves were “clearly frustrated at the continuing difficulties at security points”.
Delays lessened as airports and passengers gradually adjusted to the new routine, but frustrations over the application of the liquids rules have continued over the ensuing 18-and-a-half years. Over-zealous and confused enforcement has seen items seized, including an unopened jar of duck pâté and a snow globe, as well as decidedly solid pork pies, marzipan and Christmas puddings.
Airports and passengers quickly adjusted to the new rules, but frustrations with the liquid restrictions persist – Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
There was widespread jubilation in 2019, when then-prime minister Boris Johnson announced that an evolution in scanning technology meant that hand-baggage restrictions could finally be safely increased to two litres of liquids in total, in any individual quantity, per passenger. However, the deadlines imposed by successive governments for the installation of the new scanners have repeatedly slipped, and several UK airports that started using the 3D technology last year have been forced to revert to previous rules because of concerns the checks were not meeting required standards.
Among them was Birmingham Airport, which told The Telegraph it had hit the Government’s June 1 2024 deadline for installing the new scanners but was still unable to relax restrictions.
“It is important to note that despite the capability of these machines to screen up to 2L of liquids per passenger in total (double the current limit), we remain hamstrung on an individual container limit of up to 100ml,” a spokesperson said.
“In order for these machines to be used to their full (and intended) potential, we urge the Government to increase the volume of accepted liquids as soon as possible, while allowing us adequate time to communicate any changes to passengers.”
Similar frustrations were expressed by representatives of Bristol Airport, which said it stands ready to transition to the new rules but “any changes will be decided by the UK Government”, while Gatwick Airport said it will complete the necessary upgrades by the end of March. The Department for Transport would not give a date for the new restrictions, amid ongoing discussions with international authorities, but said: “New security equipment being rolled out at UK airports will make travelling easier while maintaining some of the world’s most stringent passenger security measures.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, says that security specialists have been “working hard for many years to have a technical solution” to stop explosives of the type designed by the 2006 plotters being used. “The queues at the airports were just ridiculous because no one had a chance to prepare for it, but once we understood what was happening, we just were not willing to take that risk,” he adds.
At the time, Murphy was a detective working in the forensic management team receiving evidence from the surveillance operation targeting the cell, analysing the bottles and boxes covertly recovered after they were discarded from the terrorists’ bomb factory and homes. “I don’t think we’d had anything on this scale before,” he recalls. “They were picking transatlantic flights that would all be in the air at the same time – some over land in the US, some over the sea. They were talking about six, seven, eight planes – that’s thousands of people being killed.”
At the start of the operation that foiled the plot, police and MI5 had no idea what the terrorists were planning. Suspicions had been roused by a meeting Abdulla Ahmed Ali – who had already appeared on the periphery of investigations into jihadist terrorism – had with an al-Qaeda attack planner in Pakistan. Surveillance on him revealed links to fellow plotter Tanvir Hussain, their repeated visits to an east London flat where neither of them lived, and a series of suspicious purchases.
After MI5 broke into the property and installed bugging devices, they recorded the pair draining and modifying soft drink bottles – and recording “martyrdom” videos – while an associate called Assad Sarwar was stockpiling large quantities of chemicals at his High Wycombe home. It was immediately clear that the group were planning a bombing of some kind, but the precise nature of their plot was a mystery until a surveillance team saw Ali using an internet cafe to research and record flight timetables for plans travelling from the UK to the US and Canada.
Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, says that security specialists have been ‘working hard for many years to have a technical solution’ to stop explosives of the type designed by the 2006 plotters being used – Belinda Jiao
The cell, who were trained and directed by senior al-Qaeda members based in Pakistan, had devised a novel method of drilling holes into soft drink bottles and refilling them with explosive liquid that could be ignited using modified batteries and a disposable camera. After experimenting with food colouring and glue guns, the plotters found they could make their devices appear like unopened bottles of Oasis and Lucozade, with the seals still intact, while the cameras and battery detonators would seem like completely normal items to take on holiday. By the time police swept in on the night of August 9 2006, the would-be suicide bombers had all the necessary chemicals and components and “everything was pretty well in place”, Clarke says.
Although al-Qaeda’s ability to plan such complex terror plots has faded, and the security services now consider low-technology attacks by self-radicalised individuals using vehicles and knives to present the dominant threat to Britain, Clarke warns that terrorists’ “fascination” with aviation has never gone away. The September 11 attacks of 2001 are still widely celebrated by jihadists, while Isis took down a Russian passenger plane taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh using a bomb concealed inside a drinks can in 2015, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board.
“If new technology enables some of the restrictions on liquids to be lifted that’s fine, but I don’t think we can ever be complacent about terrorists’ determination to attack aviation,” Clarke warns. “It would be rash to say they won’t look for another way of doing it, and I’m sure they will continue to do so.”
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