More evidence emerges of ISIS using chemical weapons

28.05.2020 18:44

There is evidence to prove that ISIS is using chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in its battle against peshmerga forces in Iraq, Kurdish authorities have claimed.

It says peshmerga forces discovered '20 gas canisters' loaded on the back of a truck involved in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq on January 23.

The Kurdistan Region Security Council says the chemical attack took place on a road between Iraq's second largest city of Mosul and the Syrian border.

It was here that peshmerga fighters were desperately trying to seize the vital supply line used by the militants when they found the alleged weapons.

Video provided by the council revealed a truck storming down the road with white smoke pouring out of it as peshmerga soldiers opened shot at it.

The footage later showed a white, billowing cloud emerging from the truck as it exploded and its remnants scattered across the area.

A Kurdish official said dozens of peshmerga fighters were treated for 'dizziness, nausea, vomiting and general weakness' after the attack.

Traces of chlorine were discovered after samples of clothing and soil from the site were analysed, the Kurds claim.

There have been several previous allegations that Islamic State terrorists have already used weaponised chlorine.

In October, Iraqi officials claimed ISIS could have used chlorine-filled cylinders during clashes in the towns of Balad and Duluiya.

And reports from the Syrian border-town of Kobani suggested the extremist group added chlorine to an arsenal that already included heavy weapons and tanks looted from captured military bases.

The government said in a statement: 'The fact ISIS relies on such tactics demonstrates it has lost the initiative and is resorting to desperate measure.

She said: 'Chlorine is easily available from a number of industrial sources and is very hazardous – causing breathing difficulties in particular and in extreme cases prolonged exposure can kill.

'Used in roadside bombs such as this, in the open air, it disperses reasonably quickly and so appears to be intended to cause panic rather than serious harm.'

Although it has many public and industrial uses, it chokes victims to death when used as a weapon.

During the Syrian civil war, a chlorine gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus in 2013 killed hundreds and nearly inspired the US to launch airstrikes against the government

The Americans and the West accused President Bashar Al-Assad's regime for the attack, while Damascus blamed the rebels.

Even Al-Qaeda in Iraq - the militant group that eventually became ISIS - used chlorine gas in a suicide attack in May 2007.

Insurgents drove tankers into three cities in Anbar province, killing two police officers and forcing over 300 Iraqi civilians and six US troops to seek treatment for gas exposure.

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(dailymail.co.uk)

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