Islamic State chemical weapons expert killed in airstrike

An Islamic State chemical weapons expert was killed in a coalition airstrike near Mosul, Iraq, the US said.

Abu Malik was killed on January 24th. Malik had been a chemical weapons engineer during the rule of Saddam Hussein before joining al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2005. The US reports that when he joined Islamic State, it gave the insurgent force a chemical weapons capability.

“His death is expected to temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish IS’s ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against innocent people,” the statement said.

Reuters