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ISIS and the Dirty Bomb Scenario

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dr. Barak Ben Zur - According to the 9/11 Commission's report, Osama bin Laden paid $1.5 million to a former Sudanese general who claimed he could provide nuclear material, only to find that the offer was a fraud. But the episode taught us about bin Laden's intentions. ISIS, which emerged from al-Qaeda, is much closer to securing and using unconventional weapons. It has access to the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) installations in suburbs of Aleppo and al-Safirah. This scientific institution, functioning since 1969, was fully engaged in the development of chemical and biological agents and a variety of studies in the atomic field. We should assume that despite Syrian army efforts in mid-2015 to transport or destroy the laboratories' contents, ISIS may have succeeded in capturing at least some of it. To meet this challenge, a secret intelligence effort is needed for tracking, arresting, and/or targeting individuals linked to global terror, including criminal groups offering fissile materiel on the black market. Col. (res.) Barak Ben-Zur served as the head of the terrorism branch of IDF Military Intelligence and as head of the research unit of the Israel Security Agency.
2016-05-20 00:00:00
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