ISIS chemical weapons a global threat

By Rebaz Ali

WASHINGTON DC—The Islamic State’s use of chemical weapons is a top concern in Washington where there are fears the terrorist group may use chemical weapons in attacks in Europe or elsewhere, or may use them in a suicide attack. 
 
“ISIS is a threat against American, Western and Middle Eastern interests. They will attack wherever they can with whatever weapon system they can come up with,” said Ambassador James Jeffery, former US ambassador to Iraq.

Continuing the current campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria is the way to combat this threat, Jeffrey believes. 
 
“The best way to deal with the ISIS chemical threat is to deal with the ISIS threat; continue the offensive against ISIS in Syria, in Northern Iraq and against Fallujah.”
 
United States military officials are focusing on locating Islamic State labs and sites where they may be storing their chemical materials. 

Another fear is that ISIS may be trying to combine chemical materials with their suicide capacities in order to cause the highest amount of casualties. 

ISIS has been training militants to carry out suicide attacks with chemical weapons according to a Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) commander.

“ISIL [ISIS] has equipped its terrorists with chemical bombs to use them in a suicide attack in Iraq, Syria or any other country,” General Akram Mohammad Abdulrahman told Iranian FARS News Agency.

However, there are others who believe that ISIS’s capabilities in using chemical weapons are limited, because it is a complicated process that requires a lot of experience. 
 
“In fact it is kind of hard to handle chemical weapons. It is not easy to transport them. It is not easy to use them effectively. They don’t have the capacity that Saddam Hussein had in the Anfal campaign for example,” said Daniel Serwer, a professor at John Hopkins University. “I think it is going to be difficult for them to use them in an effective way, but it is going to cause a lot of fear.”

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has confirmed that ISIS used sulfur mustard, commonly known as mustard gas, against Peshmerga forces.