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             US Holds Islamic State Agent Tied to Chemical Weapons

   by Jeff Seldin

   U.S. defense officials say an Islamic State operative captured by
   American special-operations forces is a key figure in the militant
   group's chemical-weapons program in Iraq, where new gas attacks by the
   terror group were reported Wednesday.

   The unidentified suspect's detention was reported last week, but his
   link to chemical weapons was not disclosed until now by defense
   officials who requested anonymity. The Islamic State agent was captured
   during raids in Iraq and Syria by a U.S. "expeditionary targeting
   force," assigned to gather intelligence and identify high-ranking IS
   leaders.

   A Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis, would not comment on recent
   operations but made general remarks about the "expeditionary targeting
   force."

   "One of the goals, one of the missions we anticipate they they will do
   is that they will capture a small number of ISIL leaders," he said,
   using another acronym for Islamic State.  "The detention of these we
   anticipate to be very short term.  It will be coordinated with Iraqi
   authorities."

   Officials in Iraq told VOA Wednesday that Islamic State fighters fired
   rockets loaded with mustard gas, also known as sulfur mustard, into a
   town north of Baghdad late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Iraqi and
   Kurdish officials said dozens of civilians were injured by the attack
   on Taza Khurmatu, a town whose residents are mostly Shi'ite Muslim
   ethnic Turkmens.

   "The rockets spread a garlicky smell and caused nausea and vomiting,"
   according to Soran Jalal, head of Taza Khurmatu's civil defense office.
   He told VOA that investigators confirmed the weapons carried mustard
   gas.

   A commander in Kirkuk, the Kurdish population center north of Turkmen
   town, estimated about 30 people required hospital treatment. Lieutenant
   Muhammad Qadir told VOA at least five of the wounded had facial burns
   caused by chemical agents.

   Separately, a police official in Kirkuk, Brigadier General Sarhad
   Qadir, said it was determined the rockets were fired into Taza Khurmatu
   from territory controlled by the Islamic State group.

   ''

   U.S. officials are aware of the group's use of such weapons.

   "We know that they have used chemical weapons on multiple occasions in
   both Iraq and Syria and we should have no misconceptions. ... This is a
   group that does not observe international laws or international norms.
   They have demonstrated they will stop at nothing to inflict death and
   destruction on innocent people," Pentagon spokesman Davis said. "Sulfur
   mustard - it's usually in a powdered form and it's put into artillery
   shells, rockets. And when those blow up it creates a dust cloud that
   can primarily aggravate but in large doses can absolutely kill."

   U.S. officials say Islamic State is still developing its chemical
   weapons program, so some reports about the terror group's use of
   chemical weapons on the battlefield is "still largely about fear."
   Islamic State fighters still find it easier to manufacture and use
   improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or to use suicide bombers to
   inflict casualties, according to the American officials.

   [Correspondent Sharon Behn in Iraq and VOA reporters Rikar Hussein and
   Dlchad Anwar contributed to this report]
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   chemical-weapons/3227596.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-holds-islamic-state-agent-tied-to-chemical-weapons/3227596.html