Software is helping the search for guerrillas’ and terrorists’ safe houses and weapons caches
WHEN selecting a base for preparing attacks, jihadists should choose flats that are on the ground floor, hard to peer into, not near government buildings and unsecluded in a newly built neighbourhood. So advises “Declaration of Jihad Against the Country’s Tyrants”, an al-Qaeda manual found in Manchester in 2000. Flats conforming to these specifications make it easier to dig secret storage areas under the floor, to melt away into the city and to avoid attention from neighbours who, were they longtime residents, might take a greater interest in newcomers.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Shrinking the haystack”
From the January 16th 2016 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents