Abu Malik, an ISIS chemical weapon expert, has reportedly been killed by a US-led airstrike near Mosul on Jan. 24. According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), identified Islamic State-affiliated insurgent Malik has initially worked as a chemical weapons engineer during Saddam Hussein's regime.
In a statement released by CENTCOM on Friday, an ISIS chemical weapon expert was said to have been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike near Mosul in Iraq last week. According to Al Arabiya News, Abu Malik has been an al-Qaeda member since 2005 before his link to the Islamic State terrorist group, which gave the insurgents a chemical weapons capability.
"His past training and experience provided the terrorist group with expertise to pursue a chemical weapons capability," CENTCOM said in a statement, The Huffington Post quoted. "His death is expected to temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish ISIL's ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against innocent people."
The death of the ISIS chemical weapon expert, Abu Malik, indicated another victory for the US-led coalition force who are responsible for orchestrating airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorists in Iraq. Prior to the day Malik was killed, Fox News reported US State Secretary John Kerry said almost 2,000 aerial offensives have ceased the notorious terrorists' momentum, drained out finances, exterminated nearly a thousand insurgents and eliminated half of the group's leadership.
Though Malik's connection to the ISIS have not exactly determined when it started, his training as a chemical weapon expert gave the terrorists the advantage through his expertise. According to RT.com, the ISIS fighters has been accused of using chemical such as chlorine gas when launching attacks on Iraqi towns.
So far, the Islamic State has only been using chemicals in more primitive ways including roadside bombs. But last summer, the United Nations was informed by the government of Iraq about losing control of a former chemical weapons depot to the terrorists. The Wall Street Journal said the Al Muthanna facility contained a stockpile of old weapons including some 2,500 rockets with the lethal nerve agent sarin.
Meanwhile, CENTCOM's claims over the death of the ISIS chemical weapon expert have raised some questions since the agency has never before identified a militant it has killed, The Guardian revealed. Since the offensives started in August, Pentagon has claimed to have eliminated 6,000 ISIS fighters.
The ISIS chemical weapon expert's death (if true) is indeed another indication of a major defeat for the Islamic State terrorist group. While it is a victory to the US-led coalition who has been optimistic to finally end the months-long bloody and expensive war against the notorious insurgents.
