Allegations of Biological Weapons Use - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 269

Kampuchea government, were using CW. These charges were later sup-
ported by refugee accounts.
Finally, mujahideen guerrillas in Afghanistan reported being attacked by
Afghan forces with CW in the summer of 1979, six months before the So-
viet invasion in December. After the invasion, the frequency of reported
incidents rose sharply. 97
These reports led the US to charge that the Soviets were supplying CW
and expertise to the Vietnamese and Lao governments, and using the
weapons themselves in Afghanistan. The charges were pursued through
a series of démarches and in the UN, and were made publicly by high-
level US officials. One result was the formation by the UN General As-
sembly of an Experts Group to investigate the alleged use; however, it
was unable to gain access to the sites of the alleged attacks, and its report
was inconclusive. 98
The Allegations
The charges were detailed and voluminous. In essence, the US charged
that the Soviet Union was systematically using a range of harassing, inca-
pacitating, and lethal CW and BW against mujahideen in Afghanistan, and
that it was supervising the use of the same (Soviet-provided) agents by
the Vietnamese in Kampuchea, and by Vietnamese-advised Laotians in
Laos.
The reported symptoms were numerous and occurred in a bewildering
variety of combinations: itching, blistering, eye irritation, nausea and
vomiting, diarrhea, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, respiratory difficulty,
headache, vertigo, rapid unconsciousness, fatigue, paralysis, and others.
Many deaths were alleged. Because no one chemical agent could explain
all, or even most, of these symptoms, the US postulated that multiple
chemical agents were being used, sometimes singly, sometimes in combi-
nation. The alleged agents included tear gas, phosgene oxime, a rapid-
acting incapacitant of unknown identity, nerve agents, and trichothecene
mycotoxins. The last is our concern here, as mycotoxins, when used as
weapons, are considered both biological and chemical weapons. 99
The trichothecenes are a family of toxins produced by fungi, principally
Fusarium (figure 13.1). Ingested doses in the milligram range can cause