An Al Qaeda Link To The Boston Marathon Bombing?

A screen grab from an al-Qaeda manual on how to create a bomb using a pressure cooker.(Photo: USA TODAY)

Al Qaeda’s Recipe for Pressure-Cooker Bombs -- Eli Lake, Daily Beast

Officials are reporting that the Boston bombs were placed in a pressure cooker, a tactic used by the terrorist group. That doesn’t prove a link, but it raises important questions, says Eli Lake.

A key component of the bombs used yesterday in the attacks on the Boston Marathon resemble the kind of homemade bomb al Qaeda has encouraged English-speaking terrorists to use.

The Daily Beast has confirmed with U.S. counter-terrorism officials that the bombs placed Monday at the marathon were made from pressure cookers, a crude kind of explosive favored by insurgents in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A recipe for a bomb that uses the pressure cooker was part of the debut issue of Inspire, the English-language online magazine of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

While the pressure cooker component is far from definitive proof that Monday’s attack was committed associates of al Qaeda, experts inside and outside of the government say it is nonetheless an important lead for investigators.

Read more ....

Update#1: Person briefed on probe: bombs in pressure cookers -- AP
Update #2: Pressure-cooker bomb instructions in al-Qaeda magazine -- USA Today

My Comment: An interesting link .... but not enough proof to claim a definitive Al Qaeda link.

Update #3: Al-Qaeda Propagandist Called for Attacks on Sports Events -- CNSNews