Imagine this: Sarin nerve gas is released in a crowded Ben-Gurion Airport terminal, killing dozens and leaving many more unconscious, gagging, or suffocating. This was the premise under which the police on Monday conducted a large-scale exercise simulating an unconventional mega-terrorist attack. The exercise was held in an unused El Al hanger. Officials said the exercise had nothing to do with a possible unconventional Iraqi counter-strike against Israel or specific threats of terror attacks on an airport. The exercise in cooperation with Home Front Command, the Fire and Rescue Service, Magen David Adom, the Environment Ministry, and others ended barely an hour after it commenced. Each of the 130 volunteers sprawled out on the tarmac feigning injury or death made it home safely, an official joked afterward. While this exercise ended like its predecessors, successfully, the Environment Ministry said it suffers from a chronic shortage of mobile units and equipment necessary to identify and contain hazardous materials. It estimates that 10, not the current six, mobile units are necessary for the detection and clean-up of materials, including chemical agents. Full Story
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