Editing Nuclear terrorism (section)

==Militant groups==
[[Nuclear weapon]]s materials on the [[black market]] are a global concern,<ref name="wash">Jay Davis. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/24/AR2008032402291_pf.html After A Nuclear 9/11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014712/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/24/AR2008032402291_pf.html |date=2018-10-13 }} ''The Washington Post'', March 25, 2008.</ref><ref>Brian Michael Jenkins. [https://www.rand.org/commentary/2008/09/11/CNN.html A Nuclear 9/11?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408153418/https://www.rand.org/blog/2008/09/a-nuclear-911.html |date=2020-04-08 }} ''CNN.com'',  September 11, 2008.</ref> and there is concern about the possible detonation of a small, crude nuclear weapon by a [[terrorist group|militant group]] in a major city, with significant loss of life and property.<ref name="kittrie">[[Orde Kittrie]]. [http://students.law.umich.edu/mjil/article-pdfs/v28n2-kittrie.pdf Averting Catastrophe: Why the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is Losing its Deterrence Capacity and How to Restore It] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607150719/http://students.law.umich.edu/mjil/article-pdfs/v28n2-kittrie.pdf |date=2010-06-07 }} May 22, 2007, p. 338.</ref><ref name="nyt">Nicholas D. Kristof. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE0D7143EF933A25750C0A9629C8B63 A Nuclear 9/11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408153356/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/10/opinion/a-nuclear-9-11.html |date=2020-04-08 }} ''The New York Times'', March 10, 2004.</ref>

It is feared that a terrorist group could detonate a [[dirty bomb]], a type of [[radiological weapon]]. A dirty bomb is made of any radioactive source and a conventional explosive. There would be no nuclear blast and likely no fatalities, but the radioactive material is dispersed and can cause extensive [[fallout]] depending on the material used.<ref name="nyt" /> There are other radiological weapons called radiological exposure devices where an explosive is not necessary. A radiological weapon may be very appealing to terrorist groups as it is highly successful in instilling fear and panic among a population (particularly because of the threat of [[radiation poisoning]]) and would contaminate the immediate area for some period of time, disrupting attempts to repair the damage and subsequently inflicting significant economic losses.

===Al-Qaeda===
From its foundation in 1988, [[al-Qaeda]] had a military subcommittee on nuclear weapons and tried to purchase fissile material from [[Post-Soviet states|former Soviet Union]] and its former [[Eastern Bloc|satellite states]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Wright|first=Lawrence|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/761224415|title=The looming tower : Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11|date=2011|isbn=978-0-525-56436-2|edition=First Vintage books edition, [revised]|location=New York|oclc=761224415}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mowatt-Larssen|first=Rolf|title=Al Qaeda's Pursuit of Weapons of Mass Destruction|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/01/25/al-qaedas-pursuit-of-weapons-of-mass-destruction/|access-date=2021-06-14|website=Foreign Policy|date=25 January 2010|language=en-US|archive-date=2017-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114211242/http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/01/25/al-qaedas-pursuit-of-weapons-of-mass-destruction/|url-status=live}}</ref> After al-Qaeda merged with [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]]'s [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] the new Shura Council held internal discussions on nuclear weapons, and in 1998 [[Osama bin Laden]] issued a [[fatwa]] declaring that it was his religious duty to acquire and use nuclear weapons.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Salama|first1=Sammy|last2=Hansell|first2=Lydia|date=November 2005|title=Does Intent equal Capability? Al-Qaeda and Weapons of Mass Destruction|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10736700600601236|journal=The Nonproliferation Review|language=en|volume=12|issue=3|pages=615–653|doi=10.1080/10736700600601236|s2cid=18145118|issn=1073-6700|access-date=2021-06-14|archive-date=2023-02-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212135158/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10736700600601236|url-status=live}}</ref> Al-Qaeda defector [[Jamal al-Fadl]] told the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] that bin Laden paid a [[Sudanese Armed Forces]] general $1.5 million for a cylinder of [[cinnabar]] which he believed contained [[Nuclear programme of South Africa|South African uranium]] in 1993.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In April 2001, a Bulgarian businessman claimed bin Laden offered to buy fissile material from him in a meeting near the [[China–Pakistan border|China-Pakistan border]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2008-08-22|title=Julian Borger on what has happened to all the radioactive material that has gone missing since the end of the cold war|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/23/nuclear.terrorism.united.nations|access-date=2021-06-14|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614033244/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/23/nuclear.terrorism.united.nations|url-status=live}}</ref>

In bin Laden's only interview with a journalist after the [[September 11 attacks]], he and al-Zawahiri claimed that al-Qaeda possessed readily usable chemical and nuclear weapons. It is generally believed, including by the interviewer [[Hamid Mir]], that they were bluffing and that it would have been extremely unlikely for al-Qaeda to have procured weapons of mass destruction at that time.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bergen, Peter L., 1962-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/769258354|title=Manhunt : the ten-year search for Bin Laden : from 9/11 to Abbottabad|date=2012|publisher=Doubleday Canada|isbn=978-0-385-67677-9|location=Toronto|pages=36–37|oclc=769258354|access-date=2020-06-19|archive-date=2020-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621034125/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/769258354|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to ''Bunn & Wier'', bin Laden requested a ruling (a fatwa), and was subsequently informed via a cleric of Saudi Arabia during 2003, of it being in accordance with [[Sharia|Islamic law]] for him to use a nuclear device against civilians if it was the only course of action available to him in a situation of defending Muslims against the actions of the U.S. military.<ref name="M. BUNN & A. WIER">{{cite book|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/bunnwier.pdf|author1=M. BUNN|author2=A. WIER|name-list-style=amp|title=The Seven Myths of Nuclear Terrorism|publisher=[[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]]|access-date=2015-08-08|archive-date=2020-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408153223/http://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/bunnwier.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to leaked diplomatic documents, al-Qaeda can produce radiological weapons, after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build "dirty bombs".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/alqaeda-moving-world-toward-nuclear-911-20110202-1adqd.html |title=al-Qaeda moving world toward 'nuclear 9/11' |date=February 3, 2011 |work=The Age |location=Melbourne |access-date=January 31, 2015 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150242/https://www.theage.com.au/world/alqaeda-moving-world-towards-nuclear-911-20110202-1adqd.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Al-Qaeda, along with some [[North Caucasus]] terrorist groups that seek to establish an [[Islamic Caliphate]] in [[Russia]], have consistently stated they seek nuclear weapons and have tried to acquire them.<ref name="harvard2011" /> Al-Qaeda has sought nuclear weapons for almost two decades by attempting to purchase stolen nuclear material and weapons and has sought nuclear expertise on numerous occasions. Osama bin Laden stated that the acquisition of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction is a “religious duty.”<ref name="harvard2010">{{cite web|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/all-stocks-of-weapons-usable-material-eng.pdf|title=All Stocks of Weapons-Usable Nuclear Materials Worldwide Must be Protected Against Global Terrorist Threats|year=2010|publisher=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University|access-date=July 26, 2012|author1=Bunn, Matthew|author2=Col-Gen. E.P. Maslin|name-list-style=amp|archive-date=April 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408153347/https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/all-stocks-of-weapons-usable-material-eng.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> While pressure from a wide range of counter-terrorist activity has hampered Al-Qaeda's ability to manage such a complex project, there is no sign that it has jettisoned its goals of acquiring [[fissile material]]. Statements made as recently as 2008 indicate that Al-Qaeda's nuclear ambitions are still very strong.<ref name="harvard2011" />{{update inline|date=July 2021}} The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism issued a report that al-Qaeda would attempt to use.

===Islamic State===
The [[Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]] (ISIS) has demonstrated ambition to use weapons of mass destruction.<ref name="NBC News">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/smugglers-tried-sell-nuclear-material-isis-ap-investigation-n439851|title=Smugglers Tried to Sell Nuclear Material to ISIS|publisher=NBC News|date=7 October 2015|access-date=17 April 2020|archive-date=8 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150248/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/smugglers-tried-sell-nuclear-material-isis-ap-investigation-n439851|url-status=live}}</ref> Although the chances of them obtaining a nuclear bomb are small, the group has been trying/suspected of trying to obtain a nuclear [[dirty bomb]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/the-risk-of-a-nuclear-isi_b_8259978.html|title=The Risk of a Nuclear ISIS Grows|work=the Huffington post|date=8 October 2015|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=8 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150253/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/the-risk-of-a-nuclear-isi_b_8259978.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2014, after the [[fall of Mosul]], ISIS militants captured nuclear materials from [[Mosul University]]. In a letter to UN Secretary-General [[Ban Ki-moon]], Iraq's UN Ambassador [[Mohamed Ali Alhakim]] said that the materials had been kept at the university and "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction". [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] spokeswoman Gill Tudor said that the seized materials were "low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk".<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|last1=Cowell|first1=Alan|title=Low-Grade Nuclear Material Is Seized by Rebels in Iraq, U.N. Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/world/middleeast/iraq.html?_r=0|access-date=15 July 2014|work=The New York Times|date=10 July 2014|archive-date=8 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150244/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/world/middleeast/iraq.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite news|last1=Sherlock|first1=Ruth|title=Iraq jihadists seize 'nuclear material', says ambassador to UN|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10958388/Iraq-jihadists-seize-nuclear-material-says-ambassador-to-UN.html|access-date=15 July 2014|work=The Telegraph|date=10 July 2014|location=London|archive-date=8 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408150245/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10958388/Iraq-jihadists-seize-nuclear-material-says-ambassador-to-UN.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2015, it was reported that [[Moldova]]n authorities working with the FBI had stopped four attempts from 2010 to 2015 by gangs with suspected connections to Russia's [[Intelligence agencies of Russia|intelligence services]] that sought to sell radioactive material to ISIS and other Middle Eastern extremists. The last reported case came in February 2015 when a smuggler with a large amount of radioactive caesium specifically sought a buyer from ISIS. Due to poor relations between Russia and the West, it is difficult to ascertain if smugglers succeeded in selling radioactive material originating from Russia to Islamist terrorists and elsewhere.<ref name="NBC News" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34461732|title=Nuclear smuggling deals 'thwarted' in Moldova|work=BBC News|date=7 October 2015|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=19 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819104712/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34461732|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/smugglers-tried-to-sell-nuclear-material-to-isis-a6684051.html|title=FBI foils smugglers' plot to sell nuclear material to Isis|work=the independent|date=7 October 2015|access-date=6 September 2017|archive-date=12 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812085814/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/smugglers-tried-to-sell-nuclear-material-to-isis-a6684051.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2016, it was reported that a senior Belgian nuclear official was being monitored by ISIS suspects linked to the [[November 2015 Paris attacks]] leading the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control to suspect that ISIS was planning on abducting the official to obtain nuclear materials for a dirty bomb.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brussels-attacks-belgium-fears-isis-seeking-to-make-dirty-nuclear-bomb-a6951661.html|title=Brussels attacks: Belgium fears Isis seeking to make 'dirty' nuclear bomb|work=the independent|date=25 March 2016|access-date=6 September 2017|archive-date=14 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414155447/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brussels-attacks-belgium-fears-isis-seeking-to-make-dirty-nuclear-bomb-a6951661.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2016, [[European Union]] and [[NATO]] security chiefs warned that ISIS was plotting to carry out nuclear attacks on the United Kingdom and Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/nato-raises-justified-concern-that-isil-is-plotting-nuclear-attack-on-britain/ar-BBrYjTE?ocid=spartandhp|title=Nato raises 'justified concern' that Isil is plotting nuclear attack on Britain|publisher=MSN|date=19 April 2016|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202112956/http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/nato-raises-justified-concern-that-isil-is-plotting-nuclear-attack-on-britain/ar-BBrYjTE?ocid=spartandhp|url-status=live}}</ref>

===North Caucasus terrorists===
[[North Caucasus]] terrorists have attempted to seize a nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed [[ballistic missile submarine]]. They have also engaged in reconnaissance activities on nuclear storage facilities and have repeatedly threatened to sabotage nuclear facilities. Similar to [[Al-Qaeda]], these groups’ activities have been hampered by counter-terrorism activity; nevertheless they remain committed to launching such a devastating attack within [[Russia]].<ref name="harvard2011" />

===Aum Shinrikyo===
The Japanese terror cult [[Aum Shinrikyo]], which used [[Sarin|sarin gas]] in the [[Tokyo subway sarin attack|1995 Tokyo Metro attack]], has also tried to acquire nuclear weapons. However, according to nuclear terrorism researchers at [[Harvard University]]’s [[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]], there is no evidence as of 2011 that they continue to do so.<ref name="harvard2011" />