14 February 2023

Indo-US exercise TARKASH has drill against nuke, bio terror attacks for the first time. What are these attacks?

GS-3: Security challenges and their management in border areas - linkages of organized crime with terrorism.

The ongoing Indo-US joint exercise named TARKASH, being held in Chennai, has included a “Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) terror response” in its drill for the firsttime. This is the sixth edition of the exercise that commenced on January 16 and is scheduled to conclude on February 14.

The exercise is a joint venture between the National Security Guard (NSG) and US Special Operations Forces (SOF). The objective of the joint exercise by NSG and US (SOF) teams is to rapidly neutralise terrorists, rescue hostages safely and deactivate chemical weapons.

The drill for CBRN terror response involves a small team insertion by IAF helicopters to the target area, successful intervention in a large auditorium, rescue of hostages and neutralisation of the chemical agent weapon.

The new drill has been introduced in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, in which Russia accused Ukraine of orchestrating a chemical attack in Kharkiv to blame Russia and receive aid from western countries. Additionally, the exercise also included a drill for tackling chemical and biological attacks by terrorists. 

CBRN Weapons

• Weapons of mass destruction are classified as CBRN weapons due to their capability of creating mass casualties and mass disruption. 
• These weapons have an extensive range, including –

• Chemical weapons like mustard gas, which damages the respiratory tract, skin, and eyes, and nerve agents that cause victims to rapidly become unconscious, have breathing difficulties, and may die. 
• Biological agents such as anthrax, botulinum toxin that leads to the paralysis of respiratory muscles, and plague are some examples of biochemical weapons. 
• Radiological weapons include weaponisedradioactive waste, dirty bombs.
• Nuclear weapons. 

History of CBRN weapons in modern warfare

• CBRN weapons have been used by various countries and terrorist organizations. 
• The French forces during the first month of World War I deployed tear-gas grenades that were developed in 1912 for police use, marking the first instance of any form of CBRN weapons being used in modern warfare. 
• Later, in October 1914, Germany fired shells containing dianisidinechlorosulfate, a lung irritant, at the British army at Neuve-Chapelle in France. 
• In 1925, countries signed the Geneva Protocol, which prohibited the use of “asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices” and “bacteriological methods of warfare”. 
• Despite the treaty, various countries, including Italy, Nazi Germany, and the United States, violated it. 
• In the 1980s, Iraq used chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, which was later confirmed by the United Nations.
• In 2013, the Syrian army carried out a sarin gas attack against civilians during the Syrian Civil War, leading to hundreds of deaths, which is the most recent use of CBRN weapons.

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Fact File 

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