How the Islamic State Developed Chemical Weapons and Why that Now Poses a Global Threat

An interview with an Iraqi scientist who was pressed into service by the Islamic State sheds light on how the group developed a program for developing chemical weapons, including chlorine and mustard gas, that were employed on battlefields in Iraq and Syria, where they inflicted hundreds of casualties on soldiers and civilians. The scientist’s commentary corroborates what was feared by the Islamic State’s adversaries following the attacks, that the group had developed its own chemical weapons rather than acquiring them from captured stockpiles. Despite the Islamic State’s territorial losses and an aggressive campaign by the U.S.-led coalition to destroy chemical production facilities and kill or capture its leaders, the threat has not been entirely erased and may even be spreading to other parts of the world. Western officials and terrorism experts believe the knowledge and skills developed through the Islamic State’s chemical weapons program still exist, tucked away in computer files, flash drives, and the memories of surviving participants. “There are jihadists all over the world who will have access on the dark Web to all this stuff,” said Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert who led rapid-response teams for the British army and NATO. “The world’s ultimate terrorist organization,” de Bretton-Gordon said, “remains very interested in the ultimate terrorist weapon.” Read the article at The Washington Post.