ISIS Militants Seize Nuclear Materials In Iraq
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
Jul 12, 2014
Iraqi jihadists have grabbed 88 pounds of uranium compounds from a Mosul University science lab.
The uranium had been kept at Mosul University and was intended for scientific research purposes. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took over Iraq's second-largest city last month and has vowed to attack Baghdad.
Iraq sent an urgent letter to the United Nations appealing for help to “stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad.”
Iraq’s UN ambassador told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the letter obtained on Wednesday.
“Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state,” Mohamed Ali Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials “can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.”
“These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separate or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts,” said Alhakim.
The U.N. atomic agency said on Thursday it believed nuclear material which Iraq said had fallen into the hands of insurgents was "low grade" and did not pose a significant security risk.
"On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said. "Nevertheless, any loss of regulatory control over nuclear and other radioactive materials is a cause for concern."
Nuclear experts say the small amount of uranium seized by insurgents is not enriched and cannot be used to make a nuclear bomb. They also say is not even enough to combine with conventional explosives to build an effective dirty bomb.
The Islamic State group, which controls parts of Syria, sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq last month and quickly captured a vast stretch of territory straddling the border between the two countries
U.S. military officials are telling Congress the threat from ISIS, is growing at an alarming rate as insurgents are capturing traditional weapons in Iraq and sending them into neighboring Syria.
"The equipment that ISIS was able to get a hold of due to their lightning-like success in Iraq is now flowing into Syria. Do you have any information about that," Sen. John McCain asked.
"Senator, I have seen in a classified level, I have seen some of that, that reporting that would indicate it is moving across the former borders there between Iraq and Syria back into Syria," Lt. General Joseph Votel of the U.S. Army said.
The U.S. is conducting dozens of manned and unmanned surveillance flights over Iraq daily to assist in the fight, but the defense official said any coordination is being managed by the Iraqis.
There are also approximately 750 U.S. troops operating in Baghdad and Erbil in the north.
"We are just finishing up with our assessment teams there, and they'll be providing some recommendations and guidance based on those assessments," Hagel said during Pentagon news conference on Friday .
The White House said it continues to be the view of the United States that Iraq's political leaders should come together and unify that country in the face of the threat that is posed by ISIS.
Sources
Reuters
19actionnews
foxnews.
AP
Jul 12, 2014
Iraqi jihadists have grabbed 88 pounds of uranium compounds from a Mosul University science lab.
The uranium had been kept at Mosul University and was intended for scientific research purposes. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took over Iraq's second-largest city last month and has vowed to attack Baghdad.
Iraq sent an urgent letter to the United Nations appealing for help to “stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad.”
Iraq’s UN ambassador told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the letter obtained on Wednesday.
“Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state,” Mohamed Ali Alhakim wrote, adding that such materials “can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.”
“These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separate or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts,” said Alhakim.
The U.N. atomic agency said on Thursday it believed nuclear material which Iraq said had fallen into the hands of insurgents was "low grade" and did not pose a significant security risk.
"On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said. "Nevertheless, any loss of regulatory control over nuclear and other radioactive materials is a cause for concern."
Nuclear experts say the small amount of uranium seized by insurgents is not enriched and cannot be used to make a nuclear bomb. They also say is not even enough to combine with conventional explosives to build an effective dirty bomb.
The Islamic State group, which controls parts of Syria, sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq last month and quickly captured a vast stretch of territory straddling the border between the two countries
U.S. military officials are telling Congress the threat from ISIS, is growing at an alarming rate as insurgents are capturing traditional weapons in Iraq and sending them into neighboring Syria.
"The equipment that ISIS was able to get a hold of due to their lightning-like success in Iraq is now flowing into Syria. Do you have any information about that," Sen. John McCain asked.
"Senator, I have seen in a classified level, I have seen some of that, that reporting that would indicate it is moving across the former borders there between Iraq and Syria back into Syria," Lt. General Joseph Votel of the U.S. Army said.
The U.S. is conducting dozens of manned and unmanned surveillance flights over Iraq daily to assist in the fight, but the defense official said any coordination is being managed by the Iraqis.
There are also approximately 750 U.S. troops operating in Baghdad and Erbil in the north.
"We are just finishing up with our assessment teams there, and they'll be providing some recommendations and guidance based on those assessments," Hagel said during Pentagon news conference on Friday .
The White House said it continues to be the view of the United States that Iraq's political leaders should come together and unify that country in the face of the threat that is posed by ISIS.
Sources
Reuters
19actionnews
foxnews.
AP
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