US intelligence head warns of Isis chemical attack capability

Islamic State would like to use its chemical weapons against Americans, James
Clapper warns at Munich global security conference

Patrick Wintour
Friday 12 February 2016 20.28 GMT Last modified on Friday 12 February 2016 20.45 GMT

The director of US National Intelligence has warned that Islamic State (Isis) “would like to use chemical weapons” in an attack on America.

Speaking alongside Robert Hannigan, the head of GCHQ, at an annual global security conference in Munich on Friday, James Clapper said the terror group has procured chemical weapons, and appears to have used them numerous times in its war to create its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Both the Syrian regime and rebel groups have accused the others of using chemical weapons during the five-year conflict. In August 2015, testimony from doctors and experts fuelled claims that civilians near the Syrian city of Aleppo had been victims of an Isis attack involving a chemical agent that was most likely mustard gas. Isis is also known to have seized chemical weapons factories in Iraq.

“It is pretty clear that they (Isis) have used this (chemical weapons) numerous times,” said Clapper. “It is very clear aspirationally they would like to do more and it is a concern to us in the United States because the indications are that they would like to use chemical weapons against us.”

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