Herat, Afghanistan
Al Qaida had already built at least one crude radiological bomb before it was attacked at its training camps in Afghanistan, the BBC reported this week. British intelligence agents posing as al Qaida recruits infiltrated a camp in Herat before Sept. 11. They found documents indicating that Osama bin Laden’s terror group had built a small bomb packed with radioactive material. If exploded, this “dirty” bomb would not have nearly the force of a nuclear bomb, but could contaminate a small area with radioactivity. British officials said the Taliban government had helped build the bomb by providing al Qaida with radioactive medical waste. It’s unknown whether the bomb was destroyed during the American attack or removed by fleeing Taliban fighters.
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