Nuclear security

Turkey holding 50 US nuclear bombs 'hostage' at air base, report says

Officials are reviewing plans to evacuate up to 50 U.S. nuclear bombs that have long been stored at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in the wake of Ankara's military offensive in northern Syria, according to a report.

The weapons are now essentially "hostage" to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a senior official told The New York Times on Monday.

The Cold War-era B61 nuclear bombs are said to be 100-250 miles from the Syrian border, according to The Guardian. A former U.S. official told the outlet that Turkish diplomats responded to suggestions about moving the bombs by saying Turkey would start to develop its own.

"The potential problems have been discussed for over a decade," the former official said. "And now we’ve finally gotten to a point where this is a problem that we can’t ignore anymore."