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'Chemical agent' traced in IS mortar fire, says US general | 'Chemical agent' traced in IS mortar fire, says US general |
(35 minutes later) | |
Tests on Islamic State mortar fragments from fighting in Iraq show traces of chemical arms, the US military says. | Tests on Islamic State mortar fragments from fighting in Iraq show traces of chemical arms, the US military says. |
US Brig Gen Kevin Killea said they had found traces of chemical agent sulphur mustard on mortars used by IS to attack Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. | |
But he said the tests were not conclusive and final testing was due. | But he said the tests were not conclusive and final testing was due. |
US officials have been looking into reports that IS used chemical weapon mustard gas in an attack earlier this month in the town of Makhmour. | US officials have been looking into reports that IS used chemical weapon mustard gas in an attack earlier this month in the town of Makhmour. |
IS has previously been accused of using chlorine gas against Kurdish fighters. | IS has previously been accused of using chlorine gas against Kurdish fighters. |
Mustard agent, or sulphur mustard - more commonly referred to as mustard gas - causes blistering of the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. | Mustard agent, or sulphur mustard - more commonly referred to as mustard gas - causes blistering of the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. |
The mortar shell fragments undergoing tests were handed over by Kurdish forces from an attack on 11 August, Brig Gen Killea told reporters on Friday. | The mortar shell fragments undergoing tests were handed over by Kurdish forces from an attack on 11 August, Brig Gen Killea told reporters on Friday. |
They had been fired at Kurdish Peshmerga positions near Makhmour, close to the city of Irbil. | They had been fired at Kurdish Peshmerga positions near Makhmour, close to the city of Irbil. |
"We were able to take the fragments from some of those mortar rounds and do a field test...on those fragments, and they showed the presence of HD, or what is known as sulphur mustard," Brig Gen Killea said. | "We were able to take the fragments from some of those mortar rounds and do a field test...on those fragments, and they showed the presence of HD, or what is known as sulphur mustard," Brig Gen Killea said. |
He described sulphur mustard as a Class 1 chemical agent, one that is rarely used outside of chemical warfare. | He described sulphur mustard as a Class 1 chemical agent, one that is rarely used outside of chemical warfare. |
US officials recently suggested IS may have obtained the mustard agent in neighbouring Syria, despite the Syrian government saying that all of its stockpiles of such weapons had been destroyed. | |
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein also used weapons such as mustard agent against the Kurds and against Iran. | |
The US military announcement comes two years after US President Barack Obama issued a "red line" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over a chemical weapon attack in eastern Damascus that killed hundreds of civilians. | |
In a UN-backed deal that followed, Mr Assad handed over 1,180 tonnes of declared toxic agents and precursor chemicals to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). |
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