ISIS News Update Today 2015: U.S. Lauds Killing Of ISIS Chemical Weapons Expert Through Airstrike

Coalition airstrikes have killed a chemical weapons expert of the Islamic State, with the U.S. military saying this will help in crippling the operations of the Islamic militant group.

Abu Malik provided the ISIS with "expertise to pursue a chemical weapons capability," BBC reported.

Malik first served as a chemical weapons engineer under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before he joined al-Qaeda in Iraq and finally, the ISIS. He was reportedly killed in an air raid near Mosul, a city in Northern Iraq, on Jan. 24.

The U.S. military said it expects that death of the ISIS chemical weapons specialist to impair the group's ability to create and use chemical weapons.

The ISIS has frequently been reported to use chlorine gas, but so far there is no proof that the group has amassed chemical weapons.

Iraqi police officers suffered last year from dizziness and vomiting following their encounter with jihadist fighters north of Baghdad. Chlorine, categorized as a "choking agent" that burns the lungs when inhaled in big amount, has reportedly been used by ISIS fighters against the Iraqi police.

Chlorine, however, is less dangerous than nerve gases, BBC said.

The ISIS holds under its control certain areas of Iraq and Syria where the government of President Bashar al-Assad has been destroying its chemical weapons. However, not all the Syrian stockpiles have been accounted for.

The U.S.-led coalition has executed almost 2,000 air strikes against the Islamic group since August last year. The U.S. and its allies have been targeting ISIS bases in Iraq and Syria in a bid to destroy military equipment and to wipe out the fighters of the Islamic militant group.

Although there are concerns over the readiness of the Iraqi government's troops to fight on the ground against the ISIS, U.S. military leaders are hoping Iraqi forces can reclaim Mosul with support from coalition forces this spring.