Iraq tells U.N. that ‘terrorist groups’ have seized nuclear materials

Iraq authorities have alerted the United Nations in a letter that terrorists have seized almost 88 pounds of nuclear materials stored at Mosul University.

The nuclear material, described in the letter as uranium compounds, was being stored at the university for research reasons, Reuters reported.

The letter, from Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was dated July 8 but only obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

It read, in part: “Terrorist routs have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state. [Such materials] can be use in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separate or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts.”

The U.N. nuclear agency responded to the alert on Thursday by claiming the materials that were taken were “low grade” and of little security concern, Reuters reported.

The letter comes as terrorists with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been sweeping across the country, calling on fellow Sunni Muslims to join in the fight to return to a caliphate.