In its propaganda magazine, ISIS has suggested that the group is expanding so rapidly that it could buy its first nuclear weapons as early as within 12 months, as reported by The Times Of India.
This article claims that ISIS has surpassed its roots from the most explosive Islamic group in the modern world to evolve into the most explosive Islamic movement the modern world has ever seen. This is within less than twelve months.
The photojournalist Cantlie is regularly used in the ISIS’s propaganda and has also appeared in their videos. There was a YouTube series called “Lend Me Your Ears” in which Cantlie was used. For more than 2 years, he was held a hostage by ISIS.
This piece is entitled “The Perfect Storm”. It talks about Boko Haram, the militant Islamist groups which recently pledged allegiance to ISIS, uniting across the Middle East, Africa and Asia to create one global movement. Not only that, the article also states that the alignment of groups has happened at the same time as ISIS militants had seized the following from the US and Iran – tanks, rocket launchers, missile systems and anti-aircraft systems. The group does not possess nuclear weapons.
The article reads, “Let me throw a hypothetical operation onto the table. The Islamic State has billions of dollars in the bank, so they call on their wilayah in Pakistan to purchase a nuclear device through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials in the region.” Also, it warns that it’s the sum of all fears for Western intelligence agencies and it’s infinitely more possible today than it was just one year ago. “And if not a nuke, what about a few thousand tons of ammonium nitrate explosive? That’s easy enough to make.”
Further, the article reads that ISIS shall be looking to do something big. This would make any past operation look like a squirrel shoot, and that the more groups that pledge allegiance, the more possible it becomes to pull off something truly epic. “Remember, all of this has happened in less than a year. How more dangerous will be the lines of communication and supply a year on from today?”
As of now, the capacity of ISIS to acquire such a device is certainly beyond the group at the moment. However, ISIS is a well funded group having secured a number of oilfields in Syria and Iraq. The group sells artefacts looted from historic areas seized during its insurgency, sometimes as much as six figure sums, as well as imposing taxes on civilians trapped in its self-declared caliphate and other methods of extortion.
Though impossible to verify, the finances of the group have been estimated to be in the $2billion area.
Read the full story at The Times Of India.
