US military: ISIS chemical weapons expert killed in Iraq

WASHINGTON DC—American military officials said on Friday that airstrikes have killed an Islamic State (ISIS) chemical-weapons expert in Iraq.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that Abu Malik, an ISIS chemical-weapons engineer was killed by an airstrike on January 24 near Mosul.

Abu Malik was said to have worked with the former regime of Saddam Hussein and joined the Al-Qaeda organization in 2005.

The CENTCOM said that Abu Malik had worked at Al Muthanna chemical-weapon production facility during Hussein’s regime and that he had planned to attack Mosul with chemical weapons in an Al-Qaeda operation.

US military officials believe that ISIS is working on chemical-weapons capabilities.

As ISIS overran Mosul last June and seized Iraqi army bases, it also controlled the Al Muthanna chemical facility, which contained a stockpile of old weapons.

Coalition forces have conducted more than 1,800 airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since last August and according to Secretary of State John Kerry, the airstrikes have killed “half of the ISIS leadership.”