Defense officials said Wednesday that a chemical weapons expert for the Islamic State told investigators that the terror group has weaponized mustard gas into powder form and had planned to use the lethal substance against opponents in Iraq and Syria.
The chemical weapons expert — described by Pentagon officials as a “significant” operative within the Islamic State, also known as ISIS — was captured last month by U.S. special forces and has been providing interrogators with details regarding the group’s plans to use banned substances as it strives to establish a caliphate in the Middle East, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
As a result of information provided by the detainee, the U.S. military has reportedly conducted at least two airstrikes aimed at facilities believed to be components of the terror group’s chemical weapons program, several sources said.
The Pentagon acknowledged on Saturday that the U.S.-led, anti-ISIS coalition had launched attacks on an ISIS “weapons production facility” near Mosul, and on Monday said an ISIS “tactical unit” has been hit as well. The Daily Beast on Wednesday said both strikes were conducted based off of information provided by the detained ISIS operative.
“They have gotten a lot of information from this guy,” a Pentagon official told the Daily Beast this week on condition of anonymity. “A lot.”
Islamic State terrorists have managed to load a powdered form of mustard gas into artillery shells, the detainee reportedly told interrogators. The often deadly-substance hadn’t been concentrated enough to kill anyone, but could still manage to inflict serious harm and “maim people” if used in an assault, an unnamed Defense official told The Times.
Two Iraq officials speaking on condition of anonymity identified the detainee as Sleiman Daoud al-Afari, a former chemical and biological weapons expert in Saddam Hussein’s Military Industrialization Authority, The Associated Press reported.
He is around 50 years old and had been leading Islamic State’s efforts to research and develop chemical weapons before being caught in a raid last month near the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, the sources told AP.
The suspect is currently being grilled by U.S. officials at a detention facility in Erbil, Iraq, The Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper reported one week earlier that a significant ISIS operative had been captured in Iraq and would be interrogated in Erbil before likely being turned over to Iraqi or Kurdish officials.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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