WASHINGTON—World leaders declared progress Friday in securing nuclear materials worldwide but warned of a persistent and harrowing threat: terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear bomb. “It would change our world,” President Barack Obama said.
Obama, addressing a nuclear security summit, said there was no doubt that if “madmen” in the Islamic State group obtained nuclear material, they would use it to kill as many people as possible. He urged fellow leaders not to be complacent about the risk of catastrophe and called IS the most active extremist group currently menacing the planet.
So far, no terrorists have gotten a nuclear weapon or a dirty bomb, Obama said, crediting global efforts to secure nuclear material. But he said it wasn’t for lack of trying: Al-Qaida has sought nuclear materials, IS has deployed chemical weapons and extremists linked to the Brussels and Paris attacks were found to have spied on a top Belgian nuclear official.
“We have measurably reduced the risk,” Obama said. Still, he added, “the threat of nuclear terrorism persists and continues to evolve.”
