Al Qaeda plotting “dirty radioactive IEDs”

Jihadi groups may be close to producing “workable and efficient” biological and chemical weapons, according to classified American cables obtained by Wikileaks and shared with The Telegraph. Security chiefs at a NATO gathering in January 2009 warned member states that al Qaeda was preparing a program of “dirty radioactive IEDS”—essentially makeshift nuclear roadside bombs. Beyond making a large explosion, such bombs would contaminate the area for several years. The cables, which chronicle the international struggle to stop the spread of weapons-grade nuclear, chemical, and biological material, also say that al Qaeda documents from 2007 show that they’ve made “greater advances” in bio-terrorism than was previously believed.

The Telegraph