Pentagon says Islamic State made sulphur weapons in Mosul varsity

Tests have confirmed that the Islamic State group was making rudimentary chemical weapons at the University of Mosul, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Tests have confirmed that the Islamic State group was making rudimentary chemical weapons at the University of Mosul, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

A building of the University of Mosul that was destroyed during the battle with Islamic State militants at Mosul in Iraq in January. (REUTERS File)

Coalition-backed Iraqi forces in mid-January took control of the sprawling campus of the university, which the IS had used as a headquarters during its two-and-a-half-year rule of the city.

Among the many booby-trapped buildings, Iraqi forces found chemicals inside the university, which was heavily damaged in the fighting.

The Iraqis have now run tests on the chemicals and these proved positive for sulphur mustard, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

Mosul university was “central to the ISIS chemical weapons program,” Davis said, using an IS acronym.

“They have received positive samples; that is indeed what was going on there.”

Davis said he was not aware of anyone having been killed by the chemicals.

“It was used primarily as an irritant and something to scare people,” he said.

Iraqi forces began the offensive to retake Mosul in October and have made major advances, though it has been a brutal fight with high casualties.

Meanwhile, the jihadists still control the west of the city.