CIA Director John Brennan claims in a new interview that the Islamic State group has used chemical weapons in the past and continues to produce small quantities of mustard gas and chlorine in Syria and Iraq. "We have a number of instances where ISIL has used chemical munitions on the battlefield," he told CBS News in an interview set to air on "60 Minutes" Sunday, according to excerpts of the interview released Thursday, reported AFP.
Brennan added that the CIA believes the terrorist group not only has the ability to make small batches of chemical weapons, but also has access to the chemical precursors needed to make more, as well as munitions to put the gas in.
"There are reports that ISIS has access to chemical precursors and munitions that they can use," said the 60-year-old director.
The Islamic State group may even attempt to export the weapons to western nations, warned Brennan. "I think there's always the potential for that. This is why it's so important to cut off the various transportation routes and smuggling routes that they have used," he said.
Chemical weapons are banned under international law and using them is a war crime.
When asked whether American assets were on the ground looking for chemical weapons, Brennan said, "U.S. intelligence is actively involved in being a part of the efforts to destroy ISIL and to get as much insight into what they have on the ground inside of Syria and Iraq."
Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a congressional committee that the Islamic State group produced and used chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria, "including the blister agent sulfur mustard," reported Fox News.
Clapper claimed that it was the first time an extremist group had produced and used chemical weapons in an attack since 1995, when members of the Japanese cult movement Aum Shinrikyo released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subway, killing 12 people and severely injuring 50 more.
The United Nations confirmed that a number of chemical weapons attacks took place in Syria in 2013 against soldiers and civilians, suggesting that responsibility lay with opposition rebels groups, some of who are backed by the U.S.
The deadliest chemical attack of the 5-year-long Syrian civil war occurred Aug. 21, 2013, in the suburbs of Damascus, where as many as 1,400 people were killed by sarin. While it's not clear who committed the attack, much of the international community blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the U.S. attempted to trump up support for an invasion. But Russia, who suggested the attack was a false flag, intervened and convinced Assad to turn over his chemical weapons stockpile.
Last August, Kurdish officials also claimed that the Islamic State group used mustard gas against peshmerga forces, according to the Washington Times.
