U.S. strikes Islamic State chemical weapons capabilities: Pentagon

The United States has carried out air strikes that it believes have degraded the chemical weapons capabilities of Islamic State in Iraq after using information obtained from a captured militant, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

U.S.-led coalition forces detained Sulayman Dawud al Bakkar, Islamic State's head of chemical and traditional weapons manufacturing, during an operation in Iraq in February, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

"We believe that the information we've been able to obtain will allow us to conduct additional operations," Cook said at a news briefing on Thursday. Cook said the intelligence came from "the information we learned from this individual."

Al Bakkar, also known as Abu Dawud, was transferred to Iraqi custody on Thursday, Cook said. He gave details about Islamic State's chemical weapons facilities and production and the people involved, Cook said.

He said the United States does not believe it has been able to altogether eliminate Islamic State's chemical weapons capability.