A dry run or a test run is an act committed by a
terrorist organization
A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
without carrying out any actual
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
in an attempt to determine whether a technique they are planning to use will be successful. The dry run is part of the rehearsal for a terrorist act, and is often the immediate precursor to the attack. It may include attempting to
smuggle
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
weapons or other items to be used in the attack past a
security checkpoint
Civilian checkpoints or security checkpoints are distinguishable from border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary control. Civilian checkpoints have been employed w ...
to determine whether this will be noticed, or monitoring the reactions of security personnel to the actions that would occur during a real attack.
The dry run is considered to be the heart of the planning stages of the terrorist attack. It is the method by which strengths and weaknesses in the plot are exposed to the terrorists, unforeseen obstacles can be detected, and the techniques are refined. Sometimes, multiple dry runs are conducted in an effort to perfect the ultimate attack.
Suspicious signs
The following are suspicious signs a dry run may be occurring:
*Appearing out-of-place
*Sitting in car and observing operations for no apparent reason
*Photography or videotaping with no obvious reason or illegally
*Monitoring of a police radio frequency and observing response times to calls
*Mapping out routes to determine timing of traffic flow and lights
*Attempting to learn inside information about the operations of a place
*Abandoning object(s), such as pieces of luggage
Notable reports of dry runs
*In 2004 a group of Syrian musicians boarded
Northwest Airlines Flight 327. Some passengers were alarmed by the men, including
Annie Jacobsen
Annie Jacobsen (born June 28, 1967) is an American investigative journalist, author, and a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist. She writes and produces television including ''Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'' for Amazon Studios, and ''Clarice'' for CBS. She was ...
who brought the flight to national attention. She described the group of men's behavior as consistent with a dry run. Investigating authorities including the FBI concluded there was no terrorist threat.
*In 2006,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
authorities uncovered a plot in which suspected terrorists were making a dry run in an attempt to make bombs out of peroxide that could be ignited with an electronic device. This led to restrictions internationally on carrying liquids on aircraft.
*Investigators believe that the
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
branch of
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
may have been conducting a dry run with shipments they made in 2010 on
cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of air cargo, cargo rather than passenger aircraft, passengers. Such aircraft usually ...
in preparation for the
2010 transatlantic aircraft bomb plot.
[http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/01/1903479/terrorists-may-have-conducted.html ]
References
{{reflist
Terrorism tactics
Smuggling