Iraqi Officials: ISIL Uses Chlorine Gas Bombs in Ramadi

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists used chlorine gas during attacks on various areas in Ramadi city in Anbar province, Iraqi officials said.
“Today, elements of the ISIS (ISIL) group have shelled some of the security checkpoints and residential areas in Ramadi with chlorine gas-imbued bombs,” the Iraqi News Gazette quoted a member of Anbar’s Provincial Council, Farhan Mohammed, as saying on Wednesday.

Chlorine, an industrial chemical, can suffocate its victims to death when weaponized and is banned in accordance to the 1997 chemical weapons convention.

The official added that several cases of suffocation have so far been reported by the city’s security forces and residents.

Mohammad went on to say this is not the first time ISIL has used chlorine in its attacks in the Western Iraqi city as a similar attack was reported two months ago.

On Monday, Iraqi forces retook key areas in and around Ramadi from ISIL with the help of volunteer forces.

Meanwhile, the United Nations refugee agency said that in excess of 114,000 people have fled the clashes in Ramadi over the past two weeks.

Iraqi Police Major Omar al-Alawni said that Iraqi soldiers regained control of Ramadi’s Pediatric and Maternity Hospital and the neighborhood around following heavy clashes with the Takfiri militants.

The ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently control shrinking swathes of Syria and Iraq. They have threatened all communities, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Ezadi Kurds and others, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq.

Senior Iraqi officials have blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Persian Gulf Arab states for the growing terrorism in their country.

The ISIL has links with Saudi intelligence and is believed to be indirectly supported by the Israeli regime.