Report: ISIL Uses Chemical Weapons against Kurds in Mosul

The ISIL fired 50 mortar rounds containing poisonous gases on Pishmarga forces in Khazar region in the Northeastern part of Mosul.

Several Pishmarga forces complained of respiratory problems after the ISIL attack as they were not equipped with masks.

In relevant development in July, the ISIL used poisonous gas against Kurds, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, citing medical testimonies and analyses.

While there have been unconfirmed reports of ISIL fighters using toxic substances in the past, the UK-based group says it has documented the accounts from the June 28 chemical weapons attack in detail.

According to the Observatory, the attack targeted the village of Rajm al-Tfihi, located South of Tal Brak in Syria’s North-eastern Al-Hasakah Governorate.

At least 12 YPG (Kurdish People’s Defense Units) fighters suffered vomiting, suffocation and eye-burns in the aftermath of an ISIL shelling of the village, the report said.

The monitor obtained doctors’ testimonies and laboratory analysis that it says confirm that the extremist group used some sort of a poison gas in the attack. It has not been determined whether the gas used was chlorine or another substance, the report says.

None of the Kurdish fighters hit by the chemical attack died, but only because they were promptly hospitalized, according to YPG Spokesman Redur Xelil, as cited by Reuters.

This is the first documented case of ISIL using chemical weapons against Kurds, Xelil said.

The YPG has issued a statement saying that there have been recent incidents indicating that a chemical attack by ISIL was possible. Kurdish militia is said to have captured industrial grade gas masks from ISIL, “confirming that they are prepared and equipped for chemical warfare along this sector of the front”.

The statement said the victims of the June 28 attack “experienced burning of the throat, eyes and nose, combined with severe headaches, muscle pain and impaired concentration and mobility”, as well as vomiting.

Meanwhile, the Observatory called on the UN Security Council to send an international probe to Syria to “detect the use of gases by ISIL”.