Australian intelligence is reporting ISIS may have enough radioactive material to build its own "dirty" bomb, and the 40-nation bloc of NATO is expressing concern.
"This is really worrying them," said Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, referencing the materials ISIS has managed to steal in recent months from research centers, hospitals and the like, the Australian reported.
Most of the at-issue materials are normally only available to governments, the Independent reported. But the recent sweeps of ISIS across Syria and Iraq have given terrorists access to much of this off-limits material, and fears are growing the group may have finally accumulated enough to construct its own devastating and "dirty" bomb, the news outlet said.
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"The insurgents did not just clear out the cash from local banks," Bishop said.
Just last week, Bishop warned about the possibility of ISIS fashioning chemical warfare weapons like chlorine-based poisonous gas. She also said her concerns weren't simple fears but rather based on recent intelligence reports.
ISIS, meanwhile, has been hinting at its growing military might – something that the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War has noted with concern.
In a recent report, the Institute said of the terror group: "ISIS is likely to begin and end Ramadan with attempted spectacular military offensive actions in Iraq and Syria," the Independent reported.