Three small chemical laboratories discovered in Karachi, Pakistan, in July might indicate that al-Qaeda is still attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction, the Washington Times reported Sunday (see GSN, Sept. 18).

Stockpiles of cyanide and other toxic chemicals were discovered in the laboratories in safe houses used by the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group, which had connections to pre-Sept. 11 Afghanistan.  Group members have trained in Afghanistan and probably have worked with al-Qaeda in Pakistan since the end of the Taliban regime, according to the Times.

The discovery of the laboratories shocked Pakistani authorities because they had believed that al-Qaeda had moved its resources to develop weapons to other Middle Eastern countries but not to Pakistan, officials said.  The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group, which is relatively unsophisticated, probably received aid from al-Qaeda operatives in the laboratories, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

It will probably be more difficult now for Pakistani authorities to locate other weapon-development operations within Pakistan, according to the Times.  Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, along with the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group and the Jaish-i-Mohammed group, have reorganized into function-specific cells of three to five people each, the Times reported (see GSN, Jan. 4).

An attempt to find a cell of three to five people in Karachi, a city with more than 10 million people, “is next to impossible,” said Lt. Gen. Javad Ashraf Qazi, a former Pakistani military intelligence chief (Ralph Joseph, Washington Times, Oct. 6).

For further information, see:

CDC List of Chemical Agents

Federation of American Scientists Information on Chemical Weapons

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  GET INVOLVED  |  SITE MAP

Back to top