An investigative report by The Associated Press has revealed that Russian criminal gangs, with connections to the Federal Security of the Russian Federation (FSB), made at least four attempts to sell nuclear components to make a "dirty bomb" to Islamic State (Isis) terrorists.
The FBI, working with local authorities, has been able to thwart the smuggling deals in Moldova, an Eastern European country, which once was part of the former Soviet republic.
In February 2015, the smugglers were going to sell raidcal Isis militants a huge cache of deadly cesium, which could be used for making a 'dirty bomb' , when a police raid busted the deal.
The AP investigation found that the amount of cesium recovered by the police from smugglers was enough for "contaminating several city blocks." The report noted that the radioactive material was procured on the specific instruction from Isis.
Despite a successful raid, the investigations did not lead to much as the kingpin behind the deal slipped out of the police net.
However, the investigators were able to find out that the smugglers from the impoverished Eastern European country of Moldova shared deep links with the Russian KGB's successor agency which, in fact, was assisting the lucrative market.
For long, reports have been doing the roundsthat Isis has been able to get its hands on enough radioactive material to build a large "dirty bomb."
Back in June, Australian intelligence agencies claimed that Isis terrorists had seized a huge cache of radioactive material from government facilities in Iraq and Syria to build a large and devastating "dirty" bomb, The Independent had reported.
Another report in WND claimed that even the Pentagon was aware that the Isis was in possession of nuclear material to make a 'dirty bomb'.
