Anthrax threat to British troops
BRITISH troops in Afghanistan may be facing a new threat after claims by Taliban commanders that home-made bombs are being loaded with anthrax.
So far there is no evidence of biological weapons being used by insurgents. But one of Britain’s leading terrorism experts warned last night that Taliban extremists linked with Al Qaeda would have the technology to produce the deadly disease.
An ITV camera crew filmed a bomb-making factory last week in caves at Tora Bora on the Afghan-Pakistan border. One bomb maker, identified as regional commander Mullah Doud, said: “We use anthrax so when a bomb explodes it produces a toxic cloud.”
A drug user in Blackpool last week became the 10th person in Britain to die of anthrax-tainted heroin, thought to have been produced in Afghanistan. Professor Paul Wilkinson, of the Centre for Terrorism Studies at St Andrews University, said: “Anthrax is an effective weapon and producing it needs only basic levels of biology and chemistry.
“There are certainly extreme elements within the Taliban, those loyal to Al Qaeda, who would not think twice about this method. However, there is a wide chasm between producing anthrax and using it effectively in home-made bombs.
“Japanese terrorists had intended to use anthrax on the Tokyo metro in 1995. They experimented with it extensively but in the end opted for the nerve agent sarin. This shows that it is not an easy substance to control.”
Professor Wilkinson said the only safeguard against anthrax was anti-nuclear, biological and chemical warfare equipment.
Unlike in Iraq, where coalition soldiers regularly donned the suits, troops in Afghanistan do not wear them, though they are believed to have access to them if necessary.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “It would not be unusual for extremist forces to use dirty bombs. In Iraq chlorine was the flavour of choice.
“However, most Taliban sympathisers, the farmers and villagers, use materials they can get their hands on, like fertiliser and car parts, and would not risk experimenting with substances like anthrax.”
