Islamic State militants may have fired a chemical rocket at American troops based in Iraq, the U.S. military says.
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The shell was categorized by officials as either a rocket or artillery shell.
The attack took place midday Tuesday at Qayyarah West Air Base in northern Iraq where USA and Iraqi forces are building up an operations hub to retake Mosul, Islamic State group’s stronghold in that country.
No US troops were hurt or have shown any symptoms of exposure to a mustard agent.
The agent, however, is said to have a “low purity” and “poorly weaponized”, an official said, with a second one calling it “ineffective”. According to defense officials, the degraded state of the base has made it hard to turn it into an effective staging area for the approaching Mosul battle.
“It’s been more than 24 hours and we haven’t seen anyone who has any indication of blistering or anything like that”, the official said. Based on seeing what they thought was a suspect substance, two field tests were conducted.
Dunford did not elaborate, but the shell landed at a military base in northern Iraq where us military advisers are helping Iraqi forces prepare for an upcoming offensive, according to an earlier account from two defense officials. The sample has been sent to a lab for conclusive results.
Still, the troops who handled the fragments went through a standard decontamination procedure. It is the first time the military has confirmed its assessment on the record since CNN reported the development Wednesday.
No one was hurt in the Tuesday afternoon incident near Qayara air base, where US troops are advising and assisting Iraqi troops, the official added.
Islamic State forces have fired crude chemical weapons at USA troops in Iraq, the Pentagon has confirmed, a startling disclosure that U.S. officials promptly downplayed as resulting in no deaths or injuries.
The battle to capture Mosul has been held off for months, though Iraqi security forces – aided by the US -led anti-Islamic State coalition – have recaptured surrounding areas and targeted IS positions.
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In the course of its air campaign against ISIS, US airstrikes have hit several locations the US believes are production sites for mustard agent.
