ISIS had plans to launch chemical warfare - evidence unearthed in Mosul

Iraqi special forces have unearthed evidence that tends to indicate that Islamic State were planning to launch a chemical warfare from western Mosul by using long and short-range missiles tipped with chemical or biological war heads. This assumption is based on analysis of material that have been taken by French special forces working with Iraqi units in the city.
It seems there is a warehouse and unloading area near the Tigris River where dozens of missiles were stored alongside makeshift launchers. These weapons had Russian markings and are thought to have come from Syria. Most of the missiles were designed to be fired by jets but one, a 10ft-long missile, is a type of Scud. Even if it was released from a makeshift launcher, it could carry its lethal payload quite far.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 28 January 2017.

Islamic State fighters had been working on the Scud and the area smelt strongly of chemicals. The French soldiers advised the Iraqi team to observe all precautions since the whole area was contaminated and necessary tests were being carried out to determine the nature of the chemicals.
There were large refrigerated cargo carriers and these were loaded with coking coal but, buried inside, there were containers with the unidentified substance. There have been allegations of the use of chemical weapons, particularly chlorine, in the Syrian conflict. However, the latest discovery of a substance probably more lethal than chlorine, is a new development.


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Battle to retake Mosul from ISIS has begun

The battle has been launched to retake control of the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State and convoys of Iraqi and Kurdish forces were moving towards the east of the city. Simultaneously, the US-led coalition airstrikes are extending aerial support.
The bid to regain control of the city of Mosul is seen as the biggest military operation in Iraq since American troops left in 2011.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 17 October 2016.

It is estimated that nearly 2,000 Iraqi special forces are in action with support of four brigades of the regular Iraqi Army, 15,000 Sunni militia, 15,000 Kurdish Peshmerga and a few thousand Shia militia. Their objective is to take the fight to an estimated 3,000 IS fighters in the city and snipers will be sent in first to fight street-by-street.
There are genuine fears that Mosul will be rigged with explosives. Moreover, the fear of chemical weapons cannot be ruled out. Islamic State does have the capability and it is quite possible that they have been saving the weapons for 'D-Day'. Mosul is the last city in Iraq that is still held by IS.
The UN has cautioned that up to one million people could be displaced from Mosul during the operation. The families are at "extreme risk" of not only being caught in crossfire, but tens of thousands may end up besieged or held as human shields and thousands could be forcibly expelled.


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Suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo kill at least four

A suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo in Syria has led to at least four deaths. It is believed that the gas was dropped alongside barrel bombs on the Zubdiya neighborhood. This is in the rebel-held part of the city. A manager of the Al Quds hospital has indicated that he had recorded four deaths and 55 injuries and was preserving pieces of patients' clothing and pieces of the bombs as evidence.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed that a woman and her child were among the dead.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 11 August 2016.

A video posted by an opposition news portal showed a child and adults wearing breathing apparatus. Moreover, two of the men reported about the strong smell of gas. They also said about seeing barrel bombs before people began to suffer breathing and eye problems.
It seems both the sides have denied using chemical weapons but United Nations investigators say that sarin gas was used in Eastern Ghouta three years ago. This had killed an estimated 1,429 people, including at least 426 children. Subsequently, in late 2015, mustard gas was used in the conflict. This was confirmed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Aleppo is Syria's most populous city before the war and has been the subject of a bitter fight between rebel forces and those under the command of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.


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ISIS could use drones to drop bombs or nuclear wastes on Britain

Security experts have cautioned that ISIS could launch attacks on Britain by using drones to drop bombs of nuclear wastes or poison bombs over Britain because they have already done it in Iraq and Syria. UK officials are believed to have come across evidence that the terror group is flying armed commercial drones over Syria and Iraq.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 28 July 2016.

It seems the militants have deployed small drones carrying explosives to blow up troops and made use of spy cameras on drones to map out army positions. Hence, there are fears that lone-wolf jihadists could use drones to spray deadly nuclear waste over British cities or blow up civilians on the streets.
Moreover, the drones or pilotless flying machines posed a 'direct threat' to Western troops on the ground in Iraq, including British troops and these can be purchased easily on websites such as Amazon and delivered to doors in Britain. The terror group could easily purchase drones in Britain and insert a small explosive on them to kill a handful of people or even chemical weapons to inflict mass casualty damage. There is, therefore, a need to to have tougher regulations on commercial drones in Britain to ensure safety of the people.


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Seized laptop of suspected terrorist reveals plan to target fans in London during Euro 2016

Based on data found on a laptop used by Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, there is evidence that ISIS wants to use target England fans as they gather in Marseille to follow the Three Lions at the Euro 2016. The sinister plan involves suicide bombs, assault rifles and even drones carrying chemical weapons to carry out the attacks.
The laptop had been was seized during raids that led to the arrest of Abdeslam in Molenbeek, Brussels, in March.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 30 May 2016.

The data retrieved from the laptop shows photographs and mention of the French city's Old Port which will be the venue where England fans will assemble for their opening game against Russia in an official fan zone. In the opinion of security chiefs, there could be a repeat of Paris attacks in November, when coordinated groups of ISIS killers gunned down people in the streets.
As a Belgium security source has indicated, ISIS was drawing up plans to attack fans of England and Russia before the game. The suspect is under lock and key but there are fears that others are at large and they are equally fanatical and could strike. Fans of England and Russia are obvious targets because both these countries are bombing ISIS in Syria and Iraq.


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Morocco warns that ISIS could unleash chemical warfare on Europe

Morocco has cautioned Europe that ISIS terrorists have tried to create chemical weapons abroad and could launch attacks on Europe. This has been indicated by Morocco's head of counter terrorism. As per his claims, his unit has already nullified 25 ISIS plots in his country in the past year alone - one of these, in February, involved mustard gas.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 4 April 2016.

It seems the ISIS cell had smuggled in weapons from nearby Libya and had worked out planning of chemical attacks on four cities apart from a suicide bomber strike. The materials used in the plot were common items readily available in shops all over Britain, and even Europe.
In the opinion of the team of Moroccan Bureau Central d'Investigations Judiciares, the ISIS group that had been apprehended in February was trying to create mustard gas.
Incidentally, U.S. Special Forces had captured the chemical weapons chief of ISIS and he admitted that the group harbored plans of using mustard gas in future attacks. The capture of this operative was confirmed by an American official and he has admitted that interrogation had yielded 'good things'. He was captured by special forces deployed by the Pentagon ans is, at present, detained in Iraq.
ISIL has used chemical weapons on multiple occasions in Iraq and Syria and sources close to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed that mustard gas had been used in fighting in August in northern Iraq. Mustard gas had also been used in August 21 attack in Marea in Syria - of course, the perpetrator of the attacks is not named.
Mustard gas or 'sulfur mustard' can lead to respiratory distress, momentary blindness and painful blisters and had first been used by Germany in Belgium in 1917 and was banned by the UN in 1993.


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ISIS getting ready to launch chemical warfare

#ISIS #Parisattacks #chemicalweapon #mustardgas With the focus of the world on trying to keep the ISIS in check, the Islamic State group is believed to be aggressively pursuing the development of chemical weapons. It is setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region. This is the feedback of Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials as reported in foxnews.com dated 20 November 2015.

These developments have given rise for an alarming scenario for the West because ISIS has made its intentions clear by attacking major cities as they have shown with its attack last week in Paris.
The United States intelligence officials do not believe that the IS has the capability to develop sophisticated weapons like nerve gas that are most suited for a terrorist attack on a civilian target. The group has, till now, used mustard gas on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria.
However, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that Islamic extremists might at some point use chemical or biological weapons. He made these comments in the lower house of Parliament.
Intelligence reports indicate that the ISIS now enjoys complete freedom to select locations for their labs and production sites and have a wide range of experts, both civilians and military, at their disposal to aid them. Till now, the only sign of the group's chemical weapons program has been the apparent use of mustard gas against Iraqi Kurdish fighters and in Syria. This is confirmed from mortars that had struck Kurdish forces in northern Iraq earlier this year - preliminary tests on these by the U.S. showed traces of the chemical agent sulfur mustard.

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Evidence emerges of ISIS using chemical weapons like chlorine gas

#peshmerga #ISIS #kurds #chlorinegas #chemicalweapon It has been claimed by Kurdish authorities that evidence has emerged that will prove that ISIS is using chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in its battle against peshmerga forces in Iraq. This is based on the discovery of ‘20 gas canisters' that had been loaded on the back of a truck that was involved in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq on January 23.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 14 March 2015.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council has revealed that the chemical attack happened on a road between Iraq's second largest city of Mosul and the Syrian border. This was the area where peshmerga fighters were desperately trying to seize the vital supply line that was being used by the militants. The discovery of the chlorine gas canisters was found at that time.
A Kurdish official indicated that many peshmerga fighters were treated for 'dizziness, nausea, vomiting and general weakness' after the attack when the gas cylinders exploded and the gas was released. Traces of chlorine gas were discovered after samples of clothing and soil from the site were analyzed.
It may be recalled that during the Syrian civil war, a chlorine gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus in 2013 had killed hundreds and US was about to launch airstrikes against the government.

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