MI5 braced for jihadi chemical attack on UK
MoD tests defences against high-street drones as...
AGENTS at the GCHQ spy centre are being alerted when equipment that can be used to make chemical weapons is sold online – after highlevel warnings that jihadis are about to launch a deadly UK attack.
The threat is so serious that warning lights are activated in the intelligence centre every time heat-resistant glassware, chemical manufacturing equipment or some everyday substances that can be used to produce weapons are bought on eBay or Amazon, a security source has revealed.
Officers then investigate whether the items, some costing less than £10, have been bought by legitimate scientists or by terrorists plotting an atrocity. The astonishing measures were put in place after intelligence reports suggested that British jihadis trained in the production of chemical weapons by Islamic State
‘IS now has the ultimate weapon in its grasp’
(IS) had returned to the UK intent on launching an attack.
Security sources understand that British jihadis were taught to make the deadly weapons at universities in IS-occupied areas. A timetable of courses taught at Mosul University’s pharmacy department in northern Iraq has been posted on a Twitter account used by IS supporters. The courses included organic chemistry and general toxicology.
Last night a security source said: ‘They are very alert to this threat at GCHQ and a red light flashes in a booth every time somebody buys a distillation apparatus on eBay.
‘Equipment sales being monitored also include fume hoods – stainless steel cabinets which remove the highly dangerous fumes produced in the manufacture of chemical weapons – and protective clothing.
‘The threat is very real as IS has made a breakthrough in its chemical weapons capability and is exporting this knowledge to Britain.’
After it emerged that 21-year-old British jihadi Reyaad Khan was killed by an RAF drone strike in Syria, The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that the Ministry of Defence is testing a number of devices which are designed to prevent jihadis using drones in a terror attack.
Experts fear such drones, which are easily available and cost about £500, could be used to deliver a poisonous fluid or gas. Another concern is that a drone, or drones, could be flown into the engine of a passenger jet, causing an explosion.
Defences sources confirmed last night that a British-designed system called AUDS – Anti Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Defence System – was trialled in Scotland earlier this year and proved effective against remote-controlled drones and autonomous drones which follow preprogrammed flight paths. The manufacturers of AUDS claim it takes between 10 and 15 seconds to target and disrupt multiple drones being flown in a ‘swarm attack’. The technology has been designed to intercept civilian grade minidrones and would not affect commercial or military aircraft, which use encrypted communications.
The MoD and the Civil Aviation Authority have been alerted to the threat following several reports of drones being flown over nuclear power stations and military bases in France. Last night military expert Elizabeth Quintana, from the Royal United Services Institute, said: ‘There have been a number of dangerous or suspicious incidents involving drones in restricted airspace. With the proliferation of drones, these problems are likely to increase in frequency.
‘The Government and Civil Aviation Authority are looking into a variety of measures to mitigate these incidents which involve both technical solutions to spot the drones and deny access and also law enforcement options.’ Talking about the trial of the new equipment, a defence spokesman added: ‘The MoD regularly invites industry to demonstrate capabilities they are developing. These informal open events help build our understanding of future technology.’
According to security sources, GCHQ agents have also been paying particularly close attention to sales of glass funnels, distillation apparatus and measuring cylinders which can be heated to about 500 degrees Celsius. Many chemical weapons are produced at high temperatures. Specialist glassware can withstand this heat without cracking or giving off impurities.
The agents are monitoring shopping websites and launching investigations into customers because there are no Government controls over sales of specialist glassware or substances such as sodium sulphide, which is commonly used in the textile industry, but also to produce substances which can then be used to make chemical weapons.
Last night, former British Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a world-renowned chemical weapons expert, said: ‘Some British jihadis may have been trained in the art of making chemical weapons and may have returned to the UK, but the security services are absolutely alive to this.
‘Islamic State now has the ultimate terror weapon in its grasp and will not hesitate to use it again and again in Syria and Iraq, and perhaps elsewhere, until their aims are achieved or they are stopped.’ A GCHQ spokesman said only: ‘We do not comment on intelligence matters.’