Heathrow, the busiest airport in the UK is on high alert after a tip was received that female suicide bombers may be willing to hide explosive within breast implants.
According to "credible" intelligence, al Qaeda is planning an attack which has airport security on high alert, especially for departing flights, the Mirror reports.
"We have been told to pay particular attention to females who may have concealed hidden explosives in their breasts," a staff member told the Mirror. "This is particularly difficult for us to pick up but we are on a very high state of alert."
According to the paper, al Qaeda's chief bomb-maker Ibrahim al-Asiri may have developed a way to conceal explosives in implants of bodily cavities. These explosives may be hard to detect with scanners.
"There is a great fear that al-Qaeda are planning on using internal devices to try and get through airport scanners," Explosives expert Andy Oppenheimer said. "These explosives could be in breast implants."
An expert said that the implant bombs could be set off by injecting a liquid into them. "Both are very difficult to pick up with current technology and they are petrified al-Qaeda are a step ahead here," the expert said. "It's pretty top secret and potentially very grisly and ghastly."
Recent trouble in Pakistan and Yemen has security officials on high alert. "There are currently deeply serious concerns over body cavities and implants of all kinds - including breast implants - being used to hide explosives," independent security analyst Paul Beaver said. "It is taking longer to get through Heathrow and other airports in Europe and North America because of these fears.
"They are taking longer to screen people and there is definitely some sort of profiling going on," he added. "The general alert state remains the same in the UK but overseas, the recent Pakistan prison breakouts and foiled attacks in Yemen are raising fears of a new jihadist wave of violence."
The airport would not comment on the threat.
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