US probes ISIL ‘chlorine attack in Iraq’
The United States says it is investigating whether the ISIL terrorist group launched a chlorine attack against security forces and volunteer fighters north of Baghdad last month.
According to Iraqi officials, ISIL militants used bombs with chlorine-filled cylinders during clashes in the town of Dhuluiya, located about 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Iraqi capital, on September 15.
“It was a strange explosion,” Lt. Khairalla al-Jabbouri, a police officer, told the Washington Post. “We saw a yellow smoke in the sky” that drifted low to the ground.
In response to the reports of ISIL using chlorine gas as a weapon in Iraq, Alistair Baskey, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said on Thursday, “We continue to take all allegations of C.W. use — and in particular these recent allegations regarding the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon — very seriously.”
“We are aware of the reports but cannot confirm details and are seeking additional information. The use of chlorine as a chemical weapon is an abhorrent act. These recent allegations underscore the importance of our work to eliminate chemical weapons in this volatile region,” he added.
The use of chlorine gas has raised grave concerns about future militant attacks in Iraq. There are also fears that Iraq’s old chemical weapons stores could have fallen into ISIL’s hands.
In September, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons stated that chlorine gas was being used in parts of Syria that are under the control of ISIL.
Recent photos of Kurdish fighters killed in battle against the ISIL Takfiri militants in the Syrian border town of Kobani apparently suggest that the terrorists have used chemical weapons against the Kurds.
The ISIL terrorists, some of whom were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control large parts of Syria’s northern territory. ISIL sent its fighters into Iraq in June, making swift advances there over the summer.
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