A suicide bomber attempting to kill Afghanistan's spy chief, Asadullah Khalid, apparently hid a bomb in his rectum, The New York Times reports.
The unidentified man told officials he had important information, but would only deliver it personally to Khalid.
From The Times:
Mr. Khalid’s aides took the visitor to an armored room in the basement of a safe house in Taimani, an upscale neighborhood in the capital city, for a security screening. They were no doubt mindful of what happened in September 2011 when a Taliban peace emissary was allowed to meet with a prominent Afghan peace envoy and then killed him with a bomb hidden in his turban.
Watching the man over closed-circuit television, they ordered him to strip naked, which he did. Satisfied, they let him get dressed and took him to see their boss upstairs.
The strip search preceding the attack on Dec. 6 didn't find anything — because the bomb was hidden in the man's rectum, according to a source speaking to the Times.
The suicide bomber ended up being the only one killed in the explosion, with Khalid receiving non-life threatening injuries.
It's not the first time for such an attack.
In Aug. 2009, an Al Qaeda operative was able to avoid both Saudi Arabian airport and palace security in an attempt to assassinate a Saudi prince with a similar bomb, The Times of India reports. The prince only received light injuries.
Although there is a limited amount of explosive that can actually be used in attacks of this type, some security experts believe there could be further implications for airport security.
"This is the nightmare scenario," Chris Yates, an aviation security consultant, told CBS News.
From CBS News:
On a plane at altitude, the effects of such a bomb could be catastrophic. And there is no current security system that could stop it.
"Absolutely nothing other than to require people to strip naked at the airport," said Yates.
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