US destroys IS chemical threat in Iraq

A site used by the Islamic State to develop chemical weapons has been destroyed by US forces in a series of air strikes.

The US military has bombed an Islamic State facility in Iraq that a senior general calls a "significant chemical threat" to Iraqi civilians.

Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday that the target was an Islamic State headquarters also used to produce lethal chemicals, possibly including chlorine and mustard gas.

Harrigian commands the Air Force element of US Central Command in the Persian Gulf.

The general described the air strike as a large operation, destroying more than 50 targets at the site with a variety of US warplanes, including B-52 bombers.

He said the site was formerly a pharmaceutical plant.