Captured Daesh leader gives US intel on chemical weapons

3/10/2016 6:48:09 PM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) >Information provided by a captured Daesh leader in Iraq has been used to conduct several airstrikes against the group's chemical weapons production facilities the Pentagon said Thursday.

Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar aka Abu Dawud was captured during an operation in February. He “provided the coalition with important information about ISIL's chemical weapons capabilities” and “the people involved” said Pentagonspokesman Peter Cook using an alternative acronym for the militant group.

Dawud who headed the group’s chemical and traditional weapons manufacturing was transferred earlier Thursday to Iraqi authorities.

The strikes “have disrupted and degraded ISIL's ability to produce chemical weapons and will continue to inform our operations in the future” Cook said.

But Cook declined to provide details as to where and when the airstrikes occurred citing security concerns about future operations.

Asked why the strikes were not mentioned in daily press releases summarizing coalition airstrikes Cook insisted that the information provided is accurate and complete.

He said Central Command which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East might not have mentioned details about the strikes on chemical weapons to avoid giving out information to Daesh that might endanger future strikes on chemical facilities.

Dawud is one of the several Daesh leaders captured by the U.S.-led coalition. The Pentagon has previously said captured Daesh militants would not be transferred to the Guantanamo Bay prison facility which the U.S. has been using to hold terror suspects and enemy combatants. Daesh militants would be transferred to Iraqi authorities after a short-term detention for interrogation according to the U.S. military.

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