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Chlorine gas: Banned in 1997, now used and manufactured by or distributed to ISIS.
Kurdish authorities say that, with the help of the US - led coalition, they are investigating yet another supposed
chemical attack conducted by Islamic State militants (IS, former ISIS,ISIL)
against Kurdish militia fighters in Iraq. Dozens of civilians and fighters in the Sinjar area suffered from nausea and vomiting after
self-made missiles were fired at them on February 25, the Kurdistan Region Security Council claimed on its Twitter account. The shells supposedly contained a chemical substance that caused the symptoms, it added. The council is working on an investigation in cooperation with the
US-led International Coalition for Operation Inherent Resolve, it said.
The substance used in the rockets is suspected to be
chlorine, a lethal agent dating back to World War I, secretary general of the Peshmerga, Jabbar Yawar, told Reuters. The use of poison and poisonous weapons in warfare was
prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997. "If confirmed this will be eighth ISIL weaponized chemical attack against Peshmerga. ISIL tactics continue to become more sophisticated," the Kurdish authority said. This is not the first time Kurdish authorities have blamed IS for resorting to the use of chemical weapons, such as chlorine and mustard gas.
The news comes as the
Iraqi militia discovered two sites with substantial stocks of plastic canisters containing Vinyltrichlorosilane (designated as "Corrosive" UN 1305) in central Iraq, not far from the city of Ramadi - a territory which was controlled by IS a short while ago. Some of the canisters were empty, meaning that they had probably already been used by the jihadists.
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