An unarmed AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile is released from a B-52H Stratofortress over the Utah Test and Training Range.
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USA forces bombed and destroyed a pharmaceutical factory in Iraq which the Islamic State converted into a chemical weapons plant.
Harrigian described the airstrike as a large, well-planned operation, which destroyed more than 50 targets at the site with a variety of US warplanes, including Air Force B-52 bombers and Marine Corps F-18D attack planes.
During a Pentagon briefing, Gen. Harrigian added they are not sure what chemicals the converted plant produced.
“A strike we just executed the other night on a Daesh headquarters also used as a weapons production facility”, Harrigan stated on Tuesday.
Despite the intensity of the airstrike, it was not the largest carried out recently in the Mosul area, according to CentCom. A total of 12 USA planes were used. That has included targeting Daesh’s vehicle borne improvised explosive factories, as well as its command and control centers and factories, said Harrigian.
Observers have repeatedly alleged IS has used chemical weapons, and the Pentagon has confirmed the jihadists have deployed chlorine and sulfur mustard devices.
IS has been accused of using mustard and chlorine gas against civilian and military targets in both Iraq and Syria.
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“We will continue to remove leaders from the battlefield with knowledge of these weapons and will target any related materials and attempts to manufacture such chemicals going forward”, Price said.
