Footage Shows ISIL Uses Poisonous Gas in Attack on Iraqi Forces in Mosul

Rasa - An Iraqi media outlet said a video footage recorded accidentally by one of the outlet's camera in the Iraqi of Mosul clearly shows that ISIL terrorist group has deployed poisonous gas while fighting Iraqi government forces in the flashpoint city.

News ID: 428159

Date: 14 March 2017 - 23:54

RNA - ISIL militants fired mortar shells containing a blue-colored poisonous gas in Mosul's Bab al-Toob district, and one of the shells landed close to camera crew, with footage showing soldiers and crew members suffocating a minute after the plume of smoke appeared, Rudaw reported.

On March 3, several media outlets active in Mosul battlefields reported that chemical weapons had been used during a fight between ISIL militants and Iraqi troops in Eastern Mosul.

Following the reports, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said 12 patients were referred to hospitals showing symptoms consistent with exposure to a toxic chemical agent. The number has since risen to 15.

Iraq’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ali Al Hakim told reporters on Friday that Iraq did not have any evidence that ISIL had used chemical weapons in the city of Mosul.

The operation to recapture Mosul, the key stronghold of ISIL in Iraq, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul’s eastern part this January, but fighting continues in the city's Western areas.

847/940