An F-22A Raptor taxis in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility prior to strike operations in Syria on September 23, 2014. An airstrike killed Islamic State chemical weapons expert Abu Malik on Saturday. File photo by Russ Scalf/USAF. | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Abu Malik, a chemical weapons expert for the Islamic State, was killed in an airstrike Saturday near Mosul, Iraq, U.S. Central Command said.

Malik was a chemical weapons engineer under Saddam Hussein before he joined al-Qaida in Iraq in 2005. He later joined IS, which is also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL.


"His past training and experience provided the terrorist group with expertise to pursue a chemical weapons capability," Central Command said in statement.

"His death is expected to temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish ISIL's ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against innocent people," the statement continued.

U.S. and coalition forces have conducted airstrikes against IS in Iraq and Syria since August.