LONDON, Sept 8: At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistani-based terrorists planning to use nuclear material against a major European target, says a report in the Daily Telegraph on Monday.

“They are exploiting the political chaos in Pakistan in a bid to acquire nuclear material for a ‘spectacular’ attack, “the DT correspondent speculated.

Colin Coughlin, who filed the report said Al Qaeda, whose terrorist infrastructure was based in Waziristan, was known to be trying to acquire nuclear technology to use in terror attacks against the West.

Other militant groups in Pakistan, such as the Pakistani Taliban, had also shown an interest in developing weapons with a nuclear capability, he said.

“Security chiefs fear the mounting political instability in Pakistan will make it easier for militant groups to develop a primitive nuclear device,” he added.

Quoting a US security official,

Mr Coughlin said militant groups wanted to carry out terror attacks on a massive scale, and there was no better way for them to achieve that objective than to develop some form of primitive nuclear device.

The most likely terror device using nuclear material, according to the correspondent, is a “dirty bomb”, where conventional explosives are fitted with radioactive material.

Quoting security experts, he said the detonation of such a device in a city like London would provoke widespread panic and chaos, even though the area of contamination would be relatively small.

He said western security officials had claimed uncovering evidence that a Pakistan-based group was planning to attack a European target with such a device.