Three officers injured as Islamic State launch 10th chemical attack in Mosul: Agency
Smoke is seen as members of the Iraqi Army clash with Islamic State fighters at a frontline in north west of Mosul, Iraq, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
It quoted its reporter saying that the mortar missile was launched a day earlier, landing near an elite squad from the army’s Counter-Terrorism Service. Three officers sustained intense vomiting and rashes from the missile which, the agency said, contained a poisonous gas, probably mustard.
The affected personnel were taken late Monday to a makeshift hospital run by the squad, according to Sputnik, which said the attack was the tenth by IS militants since operations launched to retake Mosul in October.
Instances of chemical weapons use have been recurrently reported since an inventory of chemical arms was discovered by Iraqi forces inside laboratories of Mosul University in the eastern side of Mosul, which government troops took over from IS in January.
The United Nations had previously confirmed cases of civilians being treated for symptoms of what seemed to be chemical agents.
Iraqi government troops are currently battling IS out of the Old City, the group’s last enclave in Mosul from where the group first declared establishing its rule in 2014.