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Hamas claim: Kassam rockets will have chemical warheads

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, February 28, 2002

GAZA CITY Ñ Palestinian insurgents say they are developing a chemical warhead for the Kassam-class short-range rocket.

Palestinian sources said the Hamas movement, which has designed several versions of the Kassam, seeks to replace its conventional warhead with chemical agents. The sources said Hamas has been working on development of a chemical weapon for more than 18 months.

"Hamas has claimed it has the capability of installing a CW warhead in the Kassam," a Palestinian source said. "So far, there is no proof of it."

Israeli intelligence officials said they are taking the Hamas claims seriously. But they said they have not seen any evidence that Islamic insurgents have succeeded in installing a nonconventional warhead on the Kassam.

Over the last year, the officials said, Hamas has experimented with placing rat poison and other lethal agents in bombs placed in Israeli cities. So far, they said, the heat of the explosion burned away the lethal agents.

Hamas is believed to have developed three versions of the Kassam, which has a conventional warhead of 4.5 kilograms. The Kassam-1 has a range of 4.5 kilometers; the Kassam-2 can reach between 6-8 kilometers; the Kassam-3, which has not yet been launched is said to have a range of 10 kilometers.

On Tuesday, Palestinian gunners fired a Kassam-2 rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israel. No injuries or damage were reported.

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