TheIslamic State (IS) has a history of creating or attempting to producechemical weapons (CW). IS was the first ever non-state actor to combine chemical weapons with projectiles.[1]
Stars and Stripes claimed that the Islamic State had used chemical weapons around 52 different times in Iraq and Syria from 2014 – 2017.[2] IS deployedmustard gas andchlorine gas against forces of theIraqi government, the formerBa'athist Syria government, theSyrian rebels and theSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF).[3][4][5]
IS is believed to have obtained some of their chemical from abandoned stockpiles left over fromBa'athist Iraq and undeclared CWstockpiles from Syria.[6][7]
Iraq had informed theUnited Nations (UN) in 2014 that IS had seized theMuthana State Establishment. The building was almost entirely destroyed and supervised by theUnited Nations Special Commission in Iraq after theGulf War. The Facility contained around 2,500sarin-filled explosives as of 1999. The UN claimed that that they were unable to be used by IS.[7][8][9]
The manufacturing of weapons and chemical weapons was controlled by the Committee of Military Development and Manufacturing (CMDM), which operates under the umbrella of IS's Department of Defence. The CMDM was given a monthly budget of$1 million and received additional funding for resources.
According to IS documents, over 1,000 employees worked on the CW project. IS developed and produced at least eight different chemicals for weapons, those being:aluminium phosphide,botulinum toxin,chlorine,cyanide ion,nicotine,ricin,thallium sulfate, and attempted the creation ofanthrax.[1]
The United States and the UN confirmed that labs within theMosul University had been used to make mustard gas.[10] According to the UN, IS also had a research and development team in Mosul University,Anbar province, andHawija,Kirkuk Governorate.[1]
An IS chemical weapons factory (pictured) was uncovered and destroyed by the SDF on 9 March 2017. According to an SDF commander, the chemical weapons factory was built by theSyrian government and was expanded upon by IS.[11]
IS usedChechens,Southeast Asians and former chemical weapons researchers forAl-Qaeda in Iraq and otherIraqi jihadist militants before the creation of IS.[1]
In July 2014,IS militants seized 88 pounds (40 kg) of uranium from theMosul University. The material was non-enriched and so could only be used to build a "dirty bomb", spreading nuclear material to create a health hazard; it could not be used to build the type of nuclear bomb possessed by state actors such as theUnited States andFrance.[12][13]
