DHS Foils Plot
May 18, 2011
The DHS claimed yesterday to have uncovered a plot to detonate a ``dirty bomb'' on the streets of an American city, after the arrest of a former member of the Network of Dread. DHS officials said there was evidence that the target had been Washington. The dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives to spray radioactive material over a large area, would have caused total chaos in the city. The officials refused to say whether they suspected that the members of the Network of Dread had succeeded in smuggling radioactive material into the country, or whether other conspirators were at large in the US. Officials said Bruno Eggleston - a 40-year-old - had been trained in explosives overseas. He was arrested while allegedly returning to the US to carry out reconnaissance of possible targets. He is being held in a military jail allowing him to be held indefinitely. Officials state that by apprehending Mr. Eggleston, as he sought entry into the country, the DHS has disrupted a terrorist plot to attack the capitol by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb. Weapons experts warn that a dirty bomb was well within the technical capacity of other terrorists groups. The main difficulty would be in acquiring radioactive material which is in short supply.  Such a bomb could cause radiation sickness among people caught in the immediate vicinity of a blast, and cancer among those further afield who inhale radioactive particles. But its most devastating effect would be to make a large area of a city uninhabitable.