WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US-led coalition has captured Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh) key leader Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar, who provided Washington with data on Daesh chemical weapons facilities and capabilities, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement on Thursday.
“In February, coalition forces captured Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar, aka Abu Dawud, ISIL's emir of chemical and traditional weapons manufacturing, during an operation in Iraq,” Cook said.
Cook added that Dawud was transferred earlier on Thursday to Iraqi government.
Dawud’s capture both removed a key Daesh leader from the battlefield, and gave the coalition important information on Daesh chemical weapons capabilities, the Pentagon added.
“Through Dawud, the coalition learned details about ISIL's chemical weapon facilities and production, as well as the people involved. The information has resulted in multiple coalition airstrikes that have disrupted and degraded ISIL's ability to produce chemical weapons,” Cook explained.
In February, CIA Director John Brennan said that Daesh terrorist group has used chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq, and had capabilities to produce small amounts of mustard gas or chlorine gas and possibly export it to the western countries.
The Islamic State (ISIL), also known by its Arab acronym Daesh, is a terrorist group outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other countries. The group has seized large areas in Syria and Iraq and seeks to establish a caliphate on territories under its control.
