US expects Islamic State to wield chemical weapons in Mosul fight
The United States expects Islamic State to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to repel an Iraqi-led offensive on the city of Mosul, although adding that the group's technical ability to develop such weapons is highly limited.
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US forces have begun to regularly collect shell fragments to test for possible chemical agents, given Islamic State's use of mustard agent in the months before launch of the Mosul offensive.
In a previously undisclosed incident, US forces confirmed the presence of a sulfur mustard agent on Islamic State munition fragments on Oct. 5. The Islamic State had targeted local forces, not US or coalition troops.
US President Barack Obama estimated that perhaps 1 million civilians were still in Mosul, creating a challenge for Iraq and its Western backers trying to expel the group through force.
"If we aren't successful in helping ordinary people as they're fleeing from ISIL, then that makes us vulnerable to seeing ISIL return," Obama told reporters in Washington.
The International Organization for Migration’s Iraq chief, Thomas Weiss, expected Islamic State militants to use Mosul residents as human shields and lent his voice to concerns about the dangers of chemical agents.
The IOM had not managed to procure many gas masks yet, despite those risks, Weiss said from Baghdad.
