(by Andrea Pinto) Ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer, is used to build devastating explosives, is not expensive and is easily transportable. A precious resource for terrorist groups so much so that, apparently, they would have it in large quantities already available in various European countries. It is enough that the order arrives and the sleeper cells are ready to activate themselves to carry out the attack. The news was revealed by the Republic. The United States accuses Hezbollah "It hides ammonium nitrate in Italy". The same substance that caused the huge explosion at the port of Beirut on 4 August.
The American ambassador raised the alarm, Nathan Sales, head of counterterrorism at the State Department. Speaking in a public debate he said: "Hezbollah has weapons and ammonium nitrate deposits in Europe and is ready to use them for terrorist attacks ordered by Iran ”.
In support of Sales's words, there would be a high-ranking intelligence "dossier": "these deposits are now in countries such as Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Switzerland and Italy ”.
British counter-terrorism, on the cue of the Israeli Mossad, recently discovered and destroyed a deposit in London with a large amount of ammonium nitrate. According to the US intelligence report, the dangerous substance is also hidden in Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Switzerland and Italy. Two of them have been identified this year in Germany and France. The Republic has asked our security agencies and government sources for clarification without receiving any confirmation or even denial.
Sales also specified that this concentration in Europe serves terrorist groups, Hezbollah in particular "...to carry out major terrorist attacks whenever his bosses in Tehran deem it necessary ”.
According to Israeli intelligence sources, weapons and explosives would be in Europe as early as 2012. In 2015, the clandestine deposit in London was discovered, then the one in Germany. For three and a half years, the 007s of the Mossad have followed the traces of weapons and explosives of the terrorist group not only in the countries of the European Union but also in Cyprus and Thailand. In New York, the attempt to create a clandestine warehouse thanks to the collaboration between the American, Israeli and British services was thwarted in time.
But what is ammonium nitrate?
Ammonium nitrate, chemical formula NH4NO3, is one of the most used fertilizers in the world, is produced in small porous pellets, or "prill", and is one of the main components of mining explosives, in which it is mixed with petroleum and detonated with an explosive charge. It is not easy to spontaneously detonate ammonium nitrate because it does not burn spontaneously, but acts as a source of oxygen that accelerates the combustion of other materials. For combustion to occur, the presence of oxygen is necessary. Ammonium nitrate prills provide a much more concentrated source of oxygen from the air around us, which is why the substance is effective in explosives used in mines, mixed with other combustible substances.
At sufficiently high temperatures, however, ammonium nitrate spontaneously decomposes with violence, producing gases such as nitrogen oxides and water vapor at great speed, this rapid release of gas triggers the explosion. Violent decomposition of ammonium nitrate can occur if an explosion occurs near the place where it is stored, if an intense fire develops nearby. This has already happened in Tianjin, China, in 2015, when an explosion killed 173 people in a chemical plant where flammable compounds and ammonium nitrate were stored.
An explosion of ammonium nitrate produces large amounts of nitrogen oxides, including nitrogen dioxide, (NO2), a reddish, foul-smelling gas. Nitrogen oxides are commonly found in urban air pollution and can irritate the respiratory system. The presence of nitrogen oxides is of particular concern for those with respiratory problems.