IS 'aggressively pursuing chem weapons'

IS is "aggressively pursuing the development of chemical weapons", creating a team dedicated to research and experiments, according to Iraqi and US intelligence officials.

Iraqi officials have raised concerns that a large area controlled by extremists, since the group overran parts of Iraq and Syria last year, has left authorities largely in the dark about IS activities.

Hakim al-Zamili, the head of the Iraqi parliament's security and defence committee said: "Daesh [IS] is working very seriously to reach production of chemical weapons, particularly nerve gas. That would threaten not just Iraq but the whole world."

It also believed the group are working in conjunction with scientists in Iraq and Syria to create more sophisticated weapons.

US intelligence officials, however, told AP they do not believe IS is capable of creating more developed weapons such as nerve gas, most suited for terrorist attacks on civilian targets.

So far the group are only known to have used mustard gas during violence in Iraq and Syria, which is usually not lethal.

A European official with knowledge of the militant group added that, at present, even IS's production of mustard gas was in small quantities and of low quality.

Despite this, Iraq's military distributed gas masks to troops deployed west and north of Baghdad over the Summer, amidst fears Isis may expand their weapons use, a general told AP.

On Thursday, the French prime minister warned Isis could arm itself with biological and chemical weapons in future terror attacks on Europe.

Manuel Valls said France faced a serious threat from associates linked to the gunmen and bombers who launched attacks across Paris last Friday, killing 130.

"We must not rule anything out," he said. "I say it with all the precautions needed. But we know and bear in mind that there is also a risk of chemical or bacteriological weapons.'x