ISIS chemical weapons chief captured by U.S. special forces reveals terrorists plan to use mustard gas in future attacks
- ISIS chemical weapons chief Sleiman Daoud al-Afari has been captured by the U.S., Iraqi military sources say
- U.S. confirmed senior terrorist was detained but would not reveal identity
- He revealed during interrogation that ISIS is planning mustard gas attacks
- Information led to a series of attacks on weapons sites in Iraq and Syria
- Al-Afari was a key biological weapons expert in Saddam Hussein's regime
- See more of the latest Islamic State news as a gas attack threat is revealed
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ISIS' chemical weapons chief has been captured by U.S. special forces and has admitted the terrorists plan to use mustard gas in future attacks.
In another huge blow for the militant group, chemical weapons expert Sleiman Daoud al-Afari has been detained by the U.S., according to Iraqi military sources.
Al-Afari, who worked in Saddam Hussein's barbaric regime as a biological munitions specialist, was captured last month and is being interrogated at a temporary detention site in Erbil, Iraq.
The U.S. has not confirmed the prisoner's identity, but said it had arrested a prominent ISIS leader.
ISIS' chemical weapons chief has been captured by U.S. special forces and has admitted the terrorists plan to use mustard gas in future attacks (file picture)
American officials told the New York Times that al-Afari admitted during interrogation that ISIS plans to use mustard gas in future attacks.
The 'significant' terror chief told his U.S. captors that ISIS has weaponized mustard gas into powder that it can load into artillery shells.
Al-Afari, who is thought to be in his early 50s, was captured in a raid by commandos last month near the northern Iraqi
He used to work in Hussein's regime before its downfall during the Iraq War and was ISIS' chemical weapons chief until his capture.
Information provided by al-Afari has already led to a number of airstrikes on ISIS bomb-making laboratories, with special forces operations targeting weapons experts on the ground, according to intelligence officials.
The U.S. bombed 'improvised weapons facilities' near Mosul, Iraq, this week but has not revealed whether these were related to al-Afari's capture, CNN reported.
In another huge blow for the militant group, chemical weapons expert Sleiman Daoud al-Afari has been detained by the U.S., according to Iraqi military sources (file picture)
ISIS is believed to be plowing money into its efforts to develop chemical weapons and is said to have set up its own research unit.
The terror network is said to have recruited a number of scientists from Hussein's toppled regime.
Mustard gas - which causes the lungs and skin to blister - has been used in attacks in Iraq and Syria but reports of ISIS being responsible are unverified.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said last month that the chemical weapons program was 'something we watch very closely'.
Experts say the militants are so far unable to launch any large-scale chemical attacks because they do not have the proper equipment or supply chain.
'More than a symbolic attack seems to me to be beyond the grasp of ISIS,' Dan Kaszeta, a former U.S. Army chemical officer and Department of Homeland Security expert, said.
'Furthermore, the chemicals we are talking about are principally chlorine and sulfur mustard, both of which are actually quite poor weapons by modern standards.'
The U.S.-led coalition bombing ISIS in Syria and Iraq may have struck another significant blow against the terror group last week.
U.S. officials said ISIS' minister of war Abu Omar al-Shishani was 'likely killed' in a bombing raid.
Shishani - who had close ties to Jihadi John and ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - was targeted in a drone and fighter plane attack but his death has not been confirmed.
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