White House National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said Thursday Washington is seeking more information on the attack.
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In March, the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq said it had evidence that the extremist group used chlorine in a auto bomb attack on January 23.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of the British army’s chemical-weapons unit, said the use of mustard agent by Islamic State could give a boost to the group’s “psychological warfare campaign”. The OPCW, the U.S. and others in the global community will continue to investigate these reports.
“Recent reports of possible use of chemical weapons in Iraq by non-state actors are a matter of serious concern”, the Hague-based OPCW said.
Syria agreed to get rid of all its chemical weapons stockpiles in 2013 after the US threatened airstrikes following an attack on a suburb of Damascus that left over a thousand people dead by some counts. The treaty forbids the use of chemical weapons and the use of any chemical as a weapon of war.
Unnamed officials speaking to CNN over the weekend said samples analyzed from an attack several weeks ago showed signs of mustard gas, though it was not clear how much was used or at what concentration. The chemical used had characteristics and clinical effects “consistent with a chlorine chemical agent”, the groups said.
US officials described the claims as “plausible” said there was “credible information” mustard gas was used.
Now U.S. officials are focused on figuring out exactly what happened in the attack, and if mustard gas was used, how the terrorist group obtained it.
“These were apparently chemical weapons”.
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Frontline Kurdish, Iraqi and moderate Syrian forces say they aren’t getting enough U.S. support now to counter Islamic State’s conventional capabilities. The ISIS has managed to beat down a large part of the government machinery in Syria and hence sourcing these weapons may not have been entirely problematic.
