Fear of a chemical or biological attack has sparked panic buying of gas masks since 11 September. The scare was worsened by news that operating manuals for crop dusting aircraft had been found among the hijackers' belongings, plus reports that several of them tried to get hold of crop dusters. The US considered the threat real enough to ground crop dusters for several days. Then came claims that the US had satellite images of dead dogs tied to stakes at an Osama bin Laden stronghold in Afghanistan— possibly victims of chemical or biological warfare (CBW) tests.
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