Jihadists making chemical weapons: Bishop

The Islamic State group is recruiting highly-trained technicians and scientists to make chemical weapons and has used chlorine in an attack in Iraq, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says.

It was likely that IS had Western-trained experts able to further refine precursor materials and build chemical weapons, she was reported as saying by The Weekend Australian on Saturday.

"The use of chlorine by Daesh (IS), and its recruitment of highly technically trained professionals, including from the West, have revealed far more serious efforts in chemical weapons development," Ms Bishop said.