CIA Director John Brennan, flanked by Director of the National Intelligence Director James Clapper, left, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, before Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats. AP PHOTO
WASHINGTON鈥擟IA director John Brennan has said that Islamic State fighters have used chemical weapons and have the capability to make small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas, CBS 黑料社 reported Thursday.
鈥淲e have a number of instances where ISIL has used chemical munitions on the battlefield,鈥� Brennan told CBS 黑料社, which released excerpts of an interview to air in full on the 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� news program on Sunday.
The network added that he told 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� the CIA believes that the IS group has the ability to make small amounts of mustard or chlorine gas for weapons.
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鈥淭here are reports that ISIS has access to chemical precursors and munitions that they can use,鈥� Brennan said.
Brennan also warned of the possibility that ISIS could seek to export the weapons to the West for financial gain.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 always the potential for that. This is why it鈥檚 so important to cut off the various transportation routes and smuggling routes that they have used,鈥� he said.
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When asked if there were 鈥淎merican assets on the ground鈥� searching for possible chemical weapons caches or labs, Brennan replied: 鈥淯S intelligence is actively involved in being a part of the efforts to destroy ISIL and to get as much insight into what they have on the ground inside of Syria and Iraq.鈥�
The release of the excerpts of Brennan鈥檚 interview comes two days after similar comments from spy chief James Clapper before a congressional committee.
鈥淚SIL has also used toxic chemicals in Iraq and Syria, including the blister agent sulfur mustard,鈥� Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers on Tuesday.
He said it was the first time an extremist group had produced and used a chemical warfare agent in an attack since Japan鈥檚 Aum Supreme Truth cult carried out a deadly sarin attack during rush hour in the Tokyo subway in 1995.
Last year, officials in the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan said blood tests had shown that IS fighters used mustard agent in an attack on Kurdish peshmerga forces in August.
Thirty-five peshmerga fighters were exposed and some taken abroad for treatment, officials said.
At the time of the attack, The Wall Street Journal cited US officials as saying they believed IS had used mustard agent.