Chemical terrorism

Chemical terrorism is the form of terrorism that uses the toxic effects of chemicals to kill, injure, or otherwise adversely affect the interests of its targets. It can broadly be considered a form of Chemical warfare.

According to a statement by CIA director George Tenet in 2000, Hamas has pursued a capability to conduct chemical terrorism. There have been reports of Hamas operatives planning and preparing attacks incorporating chemicals. In one case, nails and bolts packed into explosives detonated by a Hamas suicide bomber in a December 2001 attack at the Ben-Yehuda street in Jerusalem were soaked in rat poison. In another case, Hamas operative Abbas al-Sayyid received a large quantity of cyanide which he intended to insert into the explosive belts worn by suicide bombers.

On the morning of March 20, 1995, the Tokyo subway system was hit by synchronized chemical attacks on five trains. Using simple lunch-box-sized dispensers to release a mixture containing the military nerve agent sarin, members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult killed twelve people and injured about 5,000 others. The incident was unusual because the cult was using nerve gas that it had made in its own facilities; however, using unsophisticated means to disperse this low-quality agent, the attackers produced results less impressive than those achieved with ordinary explosives in the attacks on the Madrid and London transport systems in 2004 and 2005.

Al Qaeda first started researching and experimenting with chemical weapons in 1997 in Afghanistan, testing phosgene, chlorine and hydrogen cyanide.

Al-Qaeda's interest in Chemical weapons came to light following the success of Operation Viking Hammer during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. American intelligence personnel inspected the suspected chemical weapons site in Sargat and discovered traces of Ricin, as well as potassium chloride. They also discovered chemical weapons suits, atropine nerve gas antidotes, and manuals on manufacturing chemical weapons, lending credence to the idea that the site was related to the manufacture of chemical weapons and poisons.

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