Concerns Over Other “Underwear” Bombs Mount

The recently intercepted explosive device built to take down a U.S.-bound airliner may not be the only one out there. Buried on one of the last pages of a 59-page al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula publication, officials have identified a passage that boasts of ample funding and bomb-making resources. In 2009, AQAP had only a "very modest and small laboratory in a rural area," it says. But now after obtaining "a large deal of chemicals ... the modest lab has transformed into a modern one ... Also, the operations now do not lack money as before." Intelligence officials said they have no specific information indicating that other explosive devises have been produced, though lawmakers briefed on the information, including Rep. Mike McCaul, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, have expressed concern. "In my view," he said, "it's very likely they have produced more of these."

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