Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UN Team Accuses ISIS of Using Chemical Weapons in Iraq

UN Team Accuses ISIS of Using Chemical Weapons in Iraq

The United Nations Investigative Team for Accountability of ISIS (UNITAD) revealed in a report that the terrorist group used chemical weapons in Iraq.
According to the report, which was submitted to the UN Security Council on Tuesday for discussion, ISIS used chemical weapons in the areas it controlled in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2019.

Key lines of inquiry during this period concerned evidence of ISIS financial, procurement and logistical arrangements and linkages to command elements, as well as an expanded understanding of suspected sites of manufacturing, production and weapon use across Iraq.

“Evidence suggests that ISIS manufactured and produced chemical rockets and mortars, chemical ammunition for rocket-propelled grenades, chemical warheads and improvised explosive devices,” the report said.

“Furthermore, the ISIS program involved the development, testing, weaponization and deployment of a range of agents, including aluminum phosphide, chlorine, clostridium botulinum, cyanide, nicotine, ricin and thallium sulfate.”

The report said that evidence, including records, of ISIS training senior operatives on the use of chemical weapons, including chemical dispersion devices, were examined.

The Team affirmed that it attended incident sites, met with affected communities and Iraqi authorities and preserved substantial volumes of testimonial, digital and documentary evidence, noting that it focused its efforts on the attack against Tazah Khurmatu on March 8, 2016.

Dr. Moataz Mohieddine, strategic expert on armed groups, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the United States has repeatedly declared ISIS’s ability to manufacture chemical weapons and use them in its battles, especially in those to liberate Mosul.

He indicated that the US discovered sums of samples of these weapons that were seized by ISIS militants from the US and the Iraqi army’s weapons warehouses.

“ISIS former leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi supervised the formation of cells that depended on the establishment of a chemical and biological arsenal,” Mohieddine explained.

He pointed to a report by The Washington Post that underlined Iraqi Kurdish intelligence reports that shed new light on the role played by Salih al-Sabawi, a mysterious figure known within the terrorist group as Abu Malik, and the ambitious plan by ISIS leaders to develop and use weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and abroad.

Sabawi was part of a former cell that worked in Iraqi chemical facilities and in the production of weapons of mass destruction that the former army used in its war against the Kurds and Iran, the strategist noted.

He affirmed that when arrested by the US forces, Sabawi said that ISIS collected a lot of chemical materials from the weapons left behind by the Iraqi army and the US in large areas of Anbar and Mosul.

Mohieddine further stated that the Iraqi forces captured a very large cell that cooperated with ISIS after the liberation battles.

“The cell explained the steps of the group’s development of the chemical weapons industry and how its materials were transported from central and northern Iraq to Syria as well.”

He named an Iraqi engineer, Abrar al-Kubaisi, who helped ISIS manufacture the toxic substance, ricin, in simple laboratories.

Caption: UNESCO Director Audrey Azoulay during her participation, Monday, in the unveiling of a bell specially designed for the “Al-Saa’a Church” in Mosul, which ISIS occupied for three years.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×