An RAF Regiment trained in chemical warfare is also on standby to fly out

Britain's elite troops operating in Iraq are carrying gas protection suits because Islamic State fighters are feared to have taken control of Syrian chemical weapons.

Special Forces units have carried out reconnaissance in the region to provide up-to-date information on the jihadists for RAF airstrikes, and are also training Kurdish fighters battling the regime.

But despite international efforts to destroy President Assad's chemical weapon stockpile, it is thought that some may have fallen into the hands of ISIS after the militants seized vast swathes of Iraq and Syria - and they could be used on troops in retaliation for the UK joining the U.S.-led air campaign.

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Britain's elite troops operating in Iraq are carrying chemical protection suits because IS fighters are feared to have chemical weapons. Pictured, a British soldier wears a gas mask in southern Iraq in 2003

Earlier this month the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations spoke of her fear that IS and other terrorists could get hold of chemical weapons if Syria is hiding any stockpiles. Pictured, a member of a UN investigation team takes samples of sand near a part of a missile believed to be a chemical weapon in Damascus

Now soldiers carry nuclear and biological warfare gear and all vehicles are being fitted with gas detectors, reports The Mirror. An RAF Regiment trained in chemical warfare is also on standby to fly out to the war-torn region in the event of an attack.

Earlier this month the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations spoke of her fear that IS and other terrorists could get hold of chemical weapons if Syria is hiding any stockpiles.

Samantha Power spoke to reporters after the UN Security Council received a briefing from Sigrid Kaag, who heads the international effort to rid Syria of its chemical weapons.

Now soldiers in the strife-hit region carry nuclear and biological warfare gear and all vehicles are being fitted with gas detectors. File picture of British troops in Basra, Iraq, 2003

IS troops. The Al-Qaeda splinter group has taken control of a vast territory in Syria and Iraq

Aerial campaign: RAF Tornado jets have joined the U.S.-led coalition air strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq

Power said the U.S. is concerned not only that President Bashar Assad's regime still has chemical weapons but that any stockpiles left behind could end up in the hands of the terrorists.

Activists today said the U.S.-led coalition has struck targets of the Islamic State group near a besieged Kurdish town along Syria's border with Turkey.

It was not immediately clear if Tuesday's airstrikes succeeded in halting the militants' advance on Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit Islamic State fighters east and west of the town. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, also confirmed the airstrikes on the town's outskirts.

Koubani has been under attack by the Islamic State group since mid-September. Despite the airstrikes, the militants were able to advance toward the town over the past few days.