War against ISIS

[BLACKEAGLE]

Egypt: ISIS offshoot leader killed in shootout

An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt in this May 25, 2015 file photo. (Reuters)

By Reuters | Cairo
Sunday, 2 August 2015

Egyptian armed forces killed a leading member of the country's ISIS affiliate in a shootout outside his North Sinai home, the army spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

Selim Suleiman al-Haram, identified in the statement as a leader of the militant group known as Sinai Province, was asked to turn himself in by a group of soldiers that surrounded his house in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, the army said.

He refused, opening fire on the troops and attempting to blow himself up before being shot dead, the army said.

Egypt is battling an increasingly brazen insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula that has killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since the army toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi has said militancy poses an existential threat to Egypt, the most populous Arab country.

Sinai Province, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, claimed responsibility last week for a bombing that the army said killed four soldiers near Rafah, a town on the border with the Gaza Strip.

The group claimed responsibility earlier this month for a rocket attack on an Egyptian naval vessel near the coast of Israel and Gaza, less than a week after claiming a bombing in Cairo that heavily damaged the Italian consulate.

It also assaulted several military checkpoints in North Sinai, in the fiercest fighting in the region in years.

Last Update: Sunday, 2 August 2015 KSA 12:09 - GMT 09:09
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/02/-Egypt-ISIS-offshoot-leader-killed-in-shootout.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Pentagon Launching Armed Drones From Turkey

For the first time, American forces are flying armed drones out of Turkey’s Incirlik air base in support of the U.S.-backed rebels battling the Islamic State in Syria.

The drones will operate mainly as a protective umbrella for the handful of Syrian fighters trained by U.S. forces to fight the militants, in effect giving the 60 or so guerrillas their own air support capability with American precision-guided missiles. The Pentagon has spent about $36 million on this first class of trainees — or about $600,000 each — as part of $500 million program that originally promised to have 5,000 fighters ready to go by the end of this year.

Lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill have derided the number of fighters as woefully inadequate. Nonetheless, the White House has requested another $600 million to train Syrian forces in 2016.

While the New Syrian Forces, or NSF, have pledged only to fight the Islamic State, the U.S. strikes will target anyone who picks a fight with them. This includes Syrian government forces — many of whom are at least nominally fighting the Islamic State — or other rebel groups not currently in the coalition’s crosshairs.

A U.S. airstrike supporting the NSF on Friday illustrated this point. The NSF and allied rebels from the so-called 30th Division in northern Syria were attacked by the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, who were then hit by American warplanes. U.S. officials couldn’t confirm that this was the first time that al-Nusra Front fighters were targeted in the year-long bombing campaign, which has focused on the Islamic State.

The drone strikes come after a deeply embarrassing incident last week when a group of rebels who had gone through the training program were captured almost immediately upon entering the country by Nusra fighters. It is not clear precisely how many were captured, but U.S. defense officials insist that they were not part of the group of 60 NSF fighters sent into Syria.

Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters on Monday that the U.S. airstrike on Friday “was coordinated with anti-ISIL forces on the ground,” acknowledging the NSF has some ability to call in coalition airstrikes. He said the United States has so far not carried out any drone strikes to protect its Syrian allies.

The strike on Friday came after months of hand-wringing by Pentagon and White House officials over what kind of protection the United States owes the NSF fighters — who have been trained in Turkey by U.S. special operations forces — once they have been sent back into Syria to fight.

U.S. pilots will be somewhat constrained in their support of the rebels, however. The overall policy to hit the Islamic State when and where the U.S.-led coalition finds them will remain in place. But pilots can only provide “defensive fire support” for the NSF after the group is attacked.

No new American assets have been moved to Turkey as part of the new drone program. The aircraft flying over Syria were already in place at Incirlik, but had only recently been given the green light to fly. More American fighter planes are expected to arrive in Turkey in the coming weeks now that Washington and Ankara have agreed to Turkish participation in the broader fight and to allow U.S. attack aircraft to operate from Turkey.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), long a harsh critic of President Barack Obama’s Syria policy, derided the drone plan as another “incremental step” in helping the rebels that “has allowed security conditions to spiral into chaos.”

Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Pentagon Launching Armed Drones From Turkey | Foreign Policy

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Timeline: Al-Qaeda and ISIS attacks in Saudi Arabia

By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News
Thursday, 6 August 2015

Between 2003 and 2006, Saudi Arabia was hit by a wave of al-Qaeda bloody attacks targeting security headquarters and governmental facilities as well as foreign residential complexes and causing numerous deaths. Despite all of these events terrorism in Saudi Arabia didn’t come as a result to the events of May 12, 2003, considering that other acts dated back to 1979.


It is estimated that the number of terrorist acts perpetrated on Saudi grounds reached 59 during 37 years along with 1028 injured and 220 deaths


Differences in statistics were spotted in other reports but the income remains the same: the number of civilian victims is greater than that of the military.

In the wake of the Thursday’s attack which targeted a mosque in Abha, here is a timeline of the terrorist attacks occurred in Saudi Arabia.

March 18, 2003

Terrorist acts began in Saudi Arabia when an improvised explosive device made by Fahd al-Saidi exploded in a house located in al-Jazeera Street in the eastern part of Riyadh. This paved the way for a series of other terrorist acts in different parts of the kingdom.

May 12, 2003

Three trapped cars exploded in Riyadh in three compounds housing Westerners and Arabs killing 20 persons and injuring 194.

June 3, 2003

An American citizen died after being shot and seriously wounded in a naval base. He was working at King Abdul Aziz base (KANB) in the coastal industrial city Jubail.

November 8, 2003

In Ramadan, al-Mahya residential complex, mainly home to Arab and Muslim citizens, was targeted. According to Islamic teachings, it is forbidden to shed blood during this period. This attack killed 12 and wounded 122 people.

April 21, 2004

Suicide bombers targeted the General Directorate of Traffic in Riyadh with a trapped car claiming the lives of 4 security guards and a civilian and wounding 148.

May 1, 2004

Gunmen burst into industrial sites in the city of Yanbu, killed five people (an Australian, two Americans and two Britons), a Saudi security guard and injured 14 of his colleagues.

May 29, 2004

Armed group stormed the Oasis residential complex in al-Khobar city, took 45 hostages and killed dozens of its occupants before the Saudi Forces broke into the building after 48 hours and freed the hostages.

June 6, 2004

The Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers was killed and his British colleague Frank Gardner, BBC’s security correspondent was attacked in as-Suwaidi in Riyadh.

December 6, 2004

An armed group failed to break into the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. Three armed persons were killed, another 2 were arrested and many non-Americans were killed.

December 29, 2004

Two synchronous operations took place. The first one targeted the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior located in Riyadh when a suicide bomber detonated a car injuring a security guard at the eastern gate. The second one took place in the headquarters of the special Emergency Force in Riyadh as two suicide bombers tried to set off a car near the center. They were killed by security forces before they managed to drive the car into the center.

June 18, 2005

Colonel Mubarak al-Awat from the General Intelligence was assassinated of in the suburbs of al-Sharayih in Mecca by two terrorists who shot around 20 bullets from a firearm.

February 24, 2006

Security authorities thwarted an attempt targeting the oil refineries in Abqaiq in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia where suicide bombers tried to detonate two cars they were driving before the security guards of the plants kill them. This led to the death of one security guard.

May 12, 2006

U.S. consulate in Jeddah came under fire. The security forces succeeded in arresting the perpetrator after they shot him.
2006-2009, Saudi cities saw dozens of security raids and confrontations with terrorists that generated the death of many security guards and numbers of those registered on terrorism lists.

Year 2009 witnessed a failed attempt to kill the then Assistant Interior Minister Prince Mohamed Bin Nayef executed by Abdallah Taleh al-Ussayri . Also in 2009, a confrontation took place with Al Qaeda on border crossing points in the region of Jizan. Two terrorists from the wanted list tried to sneak into Saudi territory disguised in women clothes before the security authorities shot them down.

November 5, 2012

Two border security officers were killed in an ambush targeting one of the security patrols in the province of Sharurah in the southern part of the country along the border to Yemen.

July 4 and 5, 2014

Six persons tried to infiltrate into Saudi territory through al-Wadiha crossing on the border with Yemen after a security patrol came under fire in the Saudi part resulting in the death of the commander of the patrol. Two terrorists barricaded themselves inside the General Intelligence headquarters in Sharurah in the southern part of the country then committed suicide which led to the death of three other security guards.

ISIS terror in Saudi Arabia

April 30, 2015

Al-Baghdadi in a speech urged its followers to launch attacks in Saudi Arabia.

November 2014, Al-Dalwa incident

The terrorist cell that targeted a Shiite shrine in early November 2014 in al-Dalwa village in al-Ahsa governoratewas headed by Marwan al-Zafer who was directly involved with ISIS.

January 5, 2015, Border Suwayf center incident

A terrorist attack was perpetrated on, near al-Suweyf center affiliated to Jadidat Arar. The security guards tackled the terrorists while the latter were trying to infiltrate into Saudi territory coming from Iraq.

November 22, 2015, Danish resident

ISIS was behind the shooting incident of a Danish resident in Riyadh on .

March 2015, west of Riyadh

One of the security patrols came under the fire of an anonymous car in the suburbs of Laban west of Riyadh. Two security officers were slightly injured and specialized security bodies investigated this crime leading to the identification of the perpetrator.

April 25, 2015, east of Riyadh

Saudi security authorities announced to have thwarted an ISIS plan to detonate 7 trapped cars. A citizen had in fact contributed to the arrest of Saudi Yazid Abu Niyan

May 8, 2015

While conducting their duties, a security patrol came under fire in the surroundings of al-Khazn south of Riyadh. Commander Majed Aid al-Ghamedi was killed and five terrorists confessed by acting the crime during which they set the soldier on fire.

May 22, 2015

Someone detonated himself with an explosive belt among worshippers in the Mosque of Imam Ali Bin Abi Taleb in Qudayh town in al-Qatif district. This lead to 21 deaths and dozens injured.

May 29, 2015

A terrorist attempt to bomb al-Anud Mosque in the Saudi city of al-Damam claimed the lives of four and injured others.


Last Update: Friday, 7 August 2015 KSA 23:05 - GMT 20:05
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/06/Timeline-Al-Qaeda-and-ISIS-attacks-in-Saudi-Arabia.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

U.S. deploying six F-16s to Turkey in fight against ISIS: NATO

F-16 Fighting Falcons covered in sealing paint sit in a field along Miami St. at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. (File photo: AP)

By AFP, Brussels
Sunday, 9 August 2015

The United States is sending half a dozen F-16 warplanes to Turkey to help operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, NATO said Sunday.

“Six U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons deploy to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, to support the fight against ISIS,” it said.

The news comes after a diplomat said Friday that Turkey has offered the United States additional access to its air bases in the southeast after it accepted Washington’s long-pending request to use the Muslim NATO member’s Incirlik base in Adana province.

[Developing]

Last Update: Sunday, 9 August 2015 KSA 17:08 - GMT 14:08
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/09/U-S-deploying-F-16s-to-Turkey-in-fight-against-ISIS-NATO.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

U.S., allies target ISIS in 23 air strikes
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/10/U-S-allies-target-militants-in-23-air-strikes-in-Syria-Iraq-U-S-.html

 

[UAE]

U.S., allies target ISIS in 23 air strikes
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/10/U-S-allies-target-militants-in-23-air-strikes-in-Syria-Iraq-U-S-.html

The US strike ISIS in one place and support them in another.

 

[Redheart]

SAS troops dressed in US uniforms and joined special forces on Isis Abu Sayyaf overnight raid in Syria- Home News - UK - The Independent

British SAS soldiers were reportedly part of the US special forces mission that saw Islamic State commander Abu Sayyaf killed and his wife captured during an overnight raid.

The secret raid was revealed in May this year but was announced by the White House as a US special forces operation, in which Sayyaf was shot dead in a gun battle after “engaging” with American troops.

According to the Mail on Sunday, the raid had been a joint operation between British and US special forces, despite Parliament not yet approving the deployment of British troops in Syria to fight Isis.

The newspaper claims the elite British troops wore US uniforms, carried US weapons and were flown into Syria’s Deir ez-Zor in a US Osprey aircraft.

The SAS then reportedly dug into the desert and carried out a surveillance mission on Sayyaf’s compound, confirming his presence, before US jets attacked the Isis base and America’s Delta Force entered the area, shooting Sayyaf dead.

The Isis commander’s wife Umm Sayyaf was captured on the mission and a young Yazidi woman, believed to have been kept as a sex slave, was freed.

The Ministry of Defence said it does not comment on special forces operations.

The Government has approved the deployment of British troops to fight Isis in Iraq, but not yet in Syria.

It was revealed by the Ministry of Defence in July that British pilots embedded with US and Canadian forces had been part of Syrian air strikes without Parliament’s knowledge.

Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to push for a vote on UK troops carrying out airstrikes against Isis in Syria after Labour has elected a new leader in September.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

ISIS frees 22 Assyrian Christians in Syria

In February, ISIS overran many of the villages, but Kurdish forces later expelled the militants from all the places it had seized. (File photo: Reuters)

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Tuesday, 11 August 2015

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released 22 Assyrian Christians that it had abducted in northeastern Syria almost six months ago, activist groups said, according to Agence France Presse.

They were among more than 200 members of the Christian minority who were kidnapped by ISIS in February as it swept through the Khabur region in the northeastern Hasakeh province.

The Assyrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the fate of the minority, said the 22 hostages included 14 women.

It published photographs of the former hostages, showing several elderly women weeping as they were greeted by a priest.

The release was “the result of the tireless efforts and negotiations by the Assyrian Church of the East in the city of Hasakeh,” the group said.

A second group, the Assyrian Network for Human Rights, also reported the release, saying those freed were from two villages in Khabur, Tal Shamiram and Tal Jazira.

Director Osama Edward said negotiations were ongoing to secure the release of the additional 187 hostages being held by ISIS.

“There is a positive atmosphere around the negotiation,” he told AFP, adding that no additional releases could be confirmed yet.

Assyrians numbered about 30,000 among Syria’s 1.2 million Christians before the country’s conflict began. They lived mostly in 35 villages in Hassakeh.

In February, ISIS overran many of the villages, but Kurdish forces later expelled the militants from all the places it had seized.

ISIS has captured hundreds of hostages, including Christians from different sects, in territory in Syria and Iraq.

More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

Last Update: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 KSA 23:14 - GMT 20:14
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/11/ISIS-frees-22-Christians-in-northeast-Syria-.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Coalition lobs 30 more air strikes against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

In a statement on Tuesday, the Combined Joint Task Force said it conducted 20 air strikes against ISIS near 10 Iraqi cities. (File photo: AFP)

By Reuters | Washington
Wednesday, 12 August 2015

The U.S.-led coalition leading air operations against Islamic State launched 30 air strikes against the militant group on Monday, according to the U.S. military said.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Combined Joint Task Force said it conducted 20 air strikes against ISIS near 10 Iraqi cities. It targeted the group in Syria with 10 air strikes near four cities, the task force added

Last Update: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 KSA 00:19 - GMT 21:19
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/12/Coalition-lobs-30-more-air-strikes-against-ISIS-in-Syria-Iraq.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

ISIS claims to have beheaded Croatian hostage in Egypt

By AFP | Cairo
Wednesday, 12 August 2015

ISIS claimed Wednesday to have beheaded a Croatian hostage abducted in Egypt, posting a purported picture of the victim's body on ISIS-affiliated Twitter accounts.

The Croat, Tomislav Salopek, was abducted last month west of the capital Cairo. The jihadists had issued a 48-hour deadline that ended last Friday threatening to kill him if Muslim women prisoners were not released from Egyptian jails.

The picture's authenticity could not be immediately verified.

Last Update: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 KSA 14:17 - GMT 11:17
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/12/ISIS-claims-to-have-beheaded-Croatian-hostage-in-Egypt.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Iraq and Syria: How many foreign fighters are fighting for Isil?

Where do the estimated 20,000 foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria come from, and how many of them are still out there?

Iraq and Syria: How many foreign fighters are fighting for Isil? - Telegraph

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Germany: Kurds hit by chemical arms in Iraq

Thousands of pro-peace, anti-war demonstrators gather for a pro-peace rally in Istanbul, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, against the outbreak of new clashes between Turkish security forces and pro-Kurdish rebels. (AP)

By AFP, Berlin
Thursday, 13 August 2015

Kurdish forces in northern Iraq who are fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants were attacked with chemical weapons a few days ago, the German defense ministry said on Thursday.

“There was a chemical weapons attack” southwest of Erbil, a ministry spokesman told AFP, adding that some Kurdish fighters suffered respiratory problems while German military trainers were unhurt.

“American and Iraqi specialists from Baghdad are on their way to find out what happened,” added the spokesman.

[Developing story]

Last Update: Thursday, 13 August 2015 KSA 13:57 - GMT 10:57
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/13/Kurdish-forces-attacked-with-chemical-weapons-in-Iraq-German-army.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

ISIS claims huge truck bombing in Baghdad

People look at damages at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad’s Sadr City August 5, 2015. The bomb killed six people and wounded 12, police and medics said. (Reuters)

By Agencies
Thursday, 13 August 2015

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility on Thursday for a truck bomb attack at a crowded marketplace in the Baghdad district of Sadr City which killed at least 76 people and wounded more than 200 others.

In a statement posted online, the Sunni Muslim militant group said it had targeted the army and militia fighters in the Shiite neighborhood.

However, Iraqi police officials told the Associated Press that the bombing killed at least 54 people. The two police officials said the truck detonated in the Jameela market in Baghdad’s crowded Sadr City neighborhood shortly after dawn on Thursday. They say at least 86 people were wounded in the attack.

“On Thursdays the market is especially crowded because people come from the other provinces to stock up on food for the weekend,” one of the officers said.

Residents of the Shiite community rushed to the market to help the victims, carrying corpses in garbage bags and sending the wounded to local hospitals in ambulances or in personal cars. Three hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), ultra-radical Sunni Muslim militants who seized swathes of northern Iraq last year, have claimed similar attacks targeting Shiite neighborhoods.

(With AP and Reuters)


Last Update: Thursday, 13 August 2015 KSA 11:33 - GMT 08:33
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/13/At-least-60-killed-200-wounded-in-truck-bomb-attack-in-Baghdad.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

U.S. launches first anti-ISIS airstrikes from Turkey

An F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, as the U.S. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, launched its first airstrikes by Turkey-based F-16 fighter jets against ISIS targets in Syria. (AP)

Agencies
Thursday, 13 August 2015

The U.S. on Wednesday launched its first airstrikes by Turkey-based F-16 fighter jets against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in Syria, the Pentagon said.

The airstrikes mark a limited escalation of a yearlong air campaign that critics have called excessively cautious.

Previously, the U.S.-led coalition bombing the jihadist group had used unmanned drones for missions launched from Turkey, with jets flying from carriers and other bases in the region.

“Today, the United States began flying manned counter-ISIL missions from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Strikes were conducted,” Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith said, using another acronym used for ISIS.

“This follows Turkey’s announcement last month that it would open its bases to United States and coalition members'’ air operations against ISIL, as part of deeper U.S.-Turkey counter-ISIL cooperation,” she added.

Pentagon officials have said the main advantage of using Incirlik is its proximity to ISIS targets in northern Syria, although a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the F-16s may also be used on missions over Iraq. The official was not authorized to discuss F-16 mission details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most U.S. aerial combat missions over Iraq and Syria are being flown from more distant air bases in Qatar and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region, although the U.S. also is flying F-16s from Muwaffaq Salti air base in Jordan.

Separately, a military spokesman confirmed that the strikes launched from Incirlik had targeted the ISIS group in Syria, one of the most powerful factions in the country’s complex civil war.

The United States is leading a coalition of Western and Arab powers carrying out strikes against ISIS fighters in territory they have seized in Syria and Iraq.

Last Update: Thursday, 13 August 2015 KSA 07:01 - GMT 04:01
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/13/U-S-launches-first-anti-ISIS-strikes-from-Turkey-.html

 

[Redheart]

War on Isis: Claims militants used chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters in Iraq - Middle East - World - The Independent

Isis appears to have used chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters, according to officials from the US, Germany and the Kurds themselves.

Germany, whose soldiers are training Kurdish troops in Iraq, said in a statement on Thursday that 60 Peshmerga fighters had suffered breathing difficulties after an attack in the north of the country late on Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph reported that dozens of mortar shells containing poison gas had been fired during the raid near the town of Makhmour and that some of the Kurdish fighters had suffered severe burns.

A German Defence Ministry spokesman said German troops were not present at the time, but added that “we have indications that there was an attack with chemical weapons”.

The Peshmerga General Command said in a statement: “The terrorist Daesh [Isis] launched 45 120mm mortar shells tipped with chemical heads on Peshmerga positions, which led to the injury of a number of Peshmerga forces with burns on different parts of their bodies.”

Iraqi, French and American experts went to the area to assess the claims, amid fears that Isis has managed to make chemical weapons.

Senior US officials told the Wall Street Journal that they believed Isis had used a form of mustard gas against the Kurds.

The officials said Isis could potentially have got the gas from stockpiles left over from Saddam Hussein’s era or those held by the Syrian government. In 2013, Damascus admitted having large amounts of mustard gas as it said it would give up its arsenal of chemical weapons.

Isis has been accused of using chlorine gas against the Kurds in two attacks in Syria in June.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, previously was commanding officer of the UK Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Regiment, wrote in the Telegraph that Isis has “no boundaries in terms of its war of terror, and using chemical weapons is one of the ultimate ways of spreading fear and panic among its enemies”.

“We know that it has been trying to develop its own manufacturing programme in this regard, having recruited scientists and chemists in the two main cities that it controls – Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq,” he added.

He said the latest attack could have been mustard or chlorine gas.

“Mustard gas is a proper, proscribed chemical weapon that is roughly 3,000 times more toxic than chlorine,” Mr de Bretton-Gordon wrote.

Isis could have got mustard gas from a chemical weapons dump west of Baghdad that contained “the remains of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons stockpile, not all of which was destroyed after his fall”, he added.

“One has to assume Isis will try to use chemical weapons in the UK, but these kind of weapons don’t travel very well,” Mr de Bretton-Gordon said. “And while some jihadists will be equipped with the knowledge of how to manufacture some kind of bomb using industrial chemicals, I think Britons can rest assured that the police and security services are watching very closely for that kind of scenario.”