Islamic State Chemical Weapons Expert Killed in Airstrike, U.S. Central Command Says

An Islamic State chemical weapons expert was killed Saturday in a coalition airstrike near Mosul, Iraq, U.S. Central Command announced in a statement Friday.

Abu Malik, who previously worked for Saddam Hussein manufacturing chemical weapons, became affiliated with Al Qaeda before joining the Islamic State.

.@CENTCOM: Islamic State chemical weapons expert killed in airstrike pic.twitter.com/a2pTvvBe6E

— TheBlazeNOW (@TheBlazeNOW) January 30, 2015

His death is expected to significantly weaken the terror group and disrupt their work to obtain chemical weapons, U.S. officials said.

The airstrike was conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve which aims to "degrade and defeat" the Islamic State.

—

Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter