DHL fires could be sign Russia aims to 'create havoc', expert warns

Russia is aiming to disrupt western confidence if it is proved to be behind an incendiary device plot in which two parcels caught fire at DHL sites in Birmingham and Leipzig in July, an expert has said.

- Dan Sabbagh

The dangerous packages are not thought to have been sophisticated but in both cases appear to have evaded security checks.

German authorities warned this week that a plane could have been downed if a device had ignited in midair while being transported.

Brandon Fried, the executive director of the Airforwarders Association, which represents the air freight industry in the US, described the incendiary bomb incidents as disconcerting given the suspicion of Russian state involvement.

“It looks like the goal is simply to disrupt the supply chain, create havoc and simply to scare people.

“They want people to lose confidence in the system,” Fried said, adding that the industry had developed robust and evolving security procedures since September 11.