The U.S.-led coalition warplanes destroyed a factory in Iraq used by Daesh to make chemical weapons, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The production center -- a converted pharmaceutical plant complex -- likely made chlorine or mustard gas, said Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, who heads U.S. Air Forces Central Command.
"This represents just another example of Daesh's blatant disregard for international law and norms," he told Pentagon reporters in a video call.
The strike occurred Monday near Mosul and was conducted by fighter jets, ground-attack aircraft and even a B-52 heavy bomber, the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon provided video of the strike, showing a series of large, flat-roofed buildings disintegrating under multiple explosions.
Observers have repeatedly alleged Daesh has used chemical weapons, and the Pentagon has confirmed the militants have deployed chlorine and sulfur mustard devices.
Iraqi security forces, backed by coalition air power, are in the final weeks of "shaping" operations ahead of an assault to recapture Mosul, which Daesh seized in 2014 and which remains the militants' last main stronghold in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the Turkish military said that the U.S.-led coalition air strikes had killed three Daesh militants in northern Syria.
The strikes on Tuesday targeted four mortar positions and one defensive position around Syrian towns near Aleppo, the statement said, adding that Turkish airplanes did not participate in the strikes.
