The 1983 Beirut barracks bombings murdered 305 U.S. and French peacekeepers during the Lebanese Civil War with two truck bombs . The explosive mechanism was a gas-enhanced device consisting of compressed butane in canisters employed with Pentaerythritol tetranitrate to create a fuel-air explosive . The bomb was carried on a layer of concrete covered with a slab of marble to direct the blast upward . Despite the lack of sophistication and wide availability of its component parts , a gas-enhanced device can be a lethal weapon . These devices were similar to fuel-air or thermobaric weapons , explaining the large blast and damage
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
Propane bomb