The threat was red-flagged on Thursday in the form of an unusual warning from French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who said his country is at risk of chemical and biological terrorist attacks.
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The new branch of the terrorist group will consist of scientists from the region, including Iraq and Syria, and will conduct research and experiments to develop chemical weapons, US and Iraqi intelligence officials said.
US counter-terrorism experts, some of whom have dealt with Islamic radicalism for decades, cautioned that reducing the ISIS threat will be a long, complicated process – and that more mass casualty attacks in Europe and North America are likely in the meantime. “They now have complete freedom to select locations for their labs and production sites and have a wide range of experts, both civilians and military, to aid them”, said the official”. The OPCW is continuing to investigate other suspected uses of chemical weapons by ISIS.
An unnamed senior officer in Iraq’s Salahuddin Province also said 25 percent of the troops deployed there were equipped with gas masks.
Additionally, Russian Federation has supplied Iraqi forces with 1,000 protective suits against chemical attacks, Hakim al-Zamili, the head of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told AP.
Mr Valls said extremists could use chemical and biological weapons in its next attack on the streets of the country.
Members of the Iraqi security forces and Shi’ite fighters fire a rocket, during clashes with Islamic State militants in the town of Tal Ksaiba, near the town of al-Alam, March 7.
U.S. and European officials have repeatedly claimed that Islamic State is incapable of producing chemical weapons due to a lack of resources and technology, stressing that it has only managed to produce mustard gas so far – but only of low quality and in small quantities.
In addition, a chemical weapons expert warned that ISIS militants returning to the West could deploy chemical weapons inside the United States or Britain, perhaps against transportation infrastructure or at a sports stadium.
However the terror group have hit back, declaring themselves “owners of the virtual world” and promising to strike back at Anonymous.
In 2013, a senior deputy of the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi wrote in his report that there was “significant progress” toward producing chemical weapons, according to two senior officials with access to the document obtained by Iraqi intelligence.
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The French authorities, in contrast, have said that the identities of most of the attackers were unknown to them. Other worldwide officials disputed this, however, saying the men were not connected with the group. The agents found large amounts of material that could be used for making mustard gas. But the evolution of the group’s name offers a window into its history, its place in the Arab world and the bewilderment it has provoked in the West. “His release adds significantly to our concerns”.
