MOSUL: An Iraqi officer says Iraqi forces discovered sulfur mustard, a chemical warfare agent, in Mosul alongside a cache of Russian surface-to-surface missiles.

Iraqi special forces Brigadier General Haider Fadhil said French officials tested the chemical agent this week and confirmed it was sulfur mustard.

Iraqi forces showed journalists a tank of the chemical agent and a warehouse of more than a dozen surface-to-surface rockets bearing Russian inscriptions in eastern Mosul.

Fadhil said the types of rockets found lead him to suspect the Islamic State group was experimenting with the rockets to develop a way to weaponise the chemical agent.

Iraqi and US officials have repeatedly warned of IS efforts to develop chemical weapons. The extremist group has launched attacks using low-grade chemical weapons in Iraq, causing a handful of casualties.