ISISU.S. destroys large ISIS chemical weapons manufacturing facility
The U.S. on Monday destroyed an ISIS chemical manufacturing facility in Iraq, which posed a “significant chemical [weapons] threat.” Footage of Monday air strikes showed twelve aircraft hitting a sprawling industrial site in Mosul. The hits were followed by huge explosions in multiple buildings and storage facilities. The buildings were quickly engulfed by flames, and heavy plumes of dark smoke rose into the air. USAF spokesman said that fifty individual targets were hit in the attack.
The U.S. on Monday destroyed an ISIS chemical manufacturing facility in Iraq, which posed a “significant chemical [weapons] threat.”
CNN reports that footage of Monday air strikes showed twelve aircraft hitting a sprawling industrial site in Mosul. The hits were followed by huge explosions in multiple buildings and storage facilities. The buildings were quickly engulfed by flames, and heavy plumes of dark smoke rose into the air.
ISIS released a propaganda video, claiming that U.S. jets had destroyed the “only pharmaceutical company in northern Mosul.”
U.S. and Iraqi defense officials dismissed the jihadists’ claims, saying ISIS had converted the factory to a production facility for chemical weapons.
Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said the facility posed a “significant chemical threat to innocent Iraqis.”
“Intelligence had indicated that Daesh [ISIS] converted a pharmaceutical plant complex into a chemical weapons productions capability,” he added, saying fifty individual targets were hit.
“This represents just another example of Daesh blatant disregard for international law and norms.
“The enemy is using innocent civilians as shields against our values and respect for human life.”
CNN notes that UN investigators have confirmed that ISIS had used mustard gas in both Syria and Iraq. The group has also been accused of using chlorine gas. Most of ISIS chemical attacks were against Kurdish fighters and civilians.
Speaking from the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Lt. Gen. Harrigian said the U.S. Air Force would continue efforts to “dismantle Daesh” and accelerate ground operations to drive Isis out of Mosul and Raqqa.
“We will continue to shape the battle space, going after their revenue streams, killing their leaders and creating organizational dysfunction,” he added.
“We will seek to use the weight of air power to remove Daesh’s legitimacy, shatter their vision, and enable taking back the territory and resources they have stolen.”
