Thermal Matrix Provides Suicide Bomb Detection for Luxury Hotels

Washington, DC, July 01, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Security forces at a luxury hotel in Kabul were caught off guard Tuesday and unable to stop an attack by a team of suicide bombers, in an act of terror that took at least eleven civilian lives. The Taliban claims responsibility for what it calls a “martyr attack.”

The attackers stormed the Hotel Inter-Continental with some managing to reach all five floors of the hotel, pulling guests out of their rooms and shooting them. At least one of the attackers detonated his explosives. An ensuing firefight lasted more than four hours, ending only when NATO soldiers in helicopters were able to kill the insurgents on the hotel’s roof.

“This was a brazen, well orchestrated attack, the type that requires standoff detection to prevent,” said Richard Salem, the founder of threat detection maker Thermal Matrix. “The hotel was well aware it was a potential target, and had security forces in place. Regardless, the insurgents managed to elude detection and were able to overrun the hotel’s well guarded perimeter. In order to stop future attacks like this, new technology such as that developed by Thermal Matrix is necessary to detect terrorists before they reach those checkpoints.”

The Hotel Inter-Continental attack is a tragic illustration of the type of attacks the Thermal Matrix suicide bomb detection system can prevent. The company’s ACT system uses thermal imagers to provide security forces with an extra layer of detection, allowing them to see a potential suicide bomber at long standoff distances, well before he or she reaches the intended target.

“Real time, standoff detection, sets this system apart from all others in the industry,” says Thermal Matrix Executive Director Michael Reinpoldt. “Powerful IR sensors enable the ACT computer system to instantly analyze and determine if a subject is hiding a concealed object, including the powder, plastic, liquid and gel explosives all being used by suicide bombers.”

Portability and ease of setup are also major attributes to the ACT system. The system is designed to be used by a single operator, indoors or out. With a set-up time of less than ten minutes, ACT is designed for multiple applications in a wide range of environments. In addition, there are no privacy or health concerns, as infrared imagers are not x-rays, but instead analyze the surface of clothing.

The attack in Kabul is just the latest in a series of suicide bomb attacks orchestrated by the Taliban this year, after it announced a spring offensive against NATO forces. In one case a 12-year-old boy wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in a southeastern Afghanistan province, killing four people including a local council chief. Another suicide attack claimed 12 lives in a Baghdad mosque, with 15 others dead when a suicide bomb exploded in a Moroccan tourist district.

“Suicide bomb attacks have been relentless this year, and will not end until we prove to terrorists that we can stop them,” Salem said. “That’s what the Thermal Matrix ACT system can do, and we are ready to deploy those systems overseas or domestically as needed to prevent acts of terror.”

More information on Thermal Matrix and the ACT Suicide Bomb Detection System can be found at ThermalMatrixusa.net.

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