Fragments from mortars fired by the Islamic State on Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq earlier this month have tested positive for traces of mustard gas, according to reports.
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A few days after the attack near Makhmour, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces brought fragments from the mortar rounds to U.S. forces.
In a video briefing to the Pentagon, Killea said that the U.S. was also seeking to confirm the alleged use of chemical weapons in two attacks in Syria in June.
“We were able to take the fragments and do a field test on those fragments, and they showed the presence of HD, or what is known as sulfur mustard”.
U.S. officials have expressed persistent concerns about the possibility that IS would locate and use chemical weapons in its ongoing campaign to take control of more territory across Iraq and Syria.
He described sulphur mustard as a Class 1 chemical agent, one that is rarely used outside of chemical warfare. They then handed the shells over to the US military.
He added that definitive test results will be completed “in a couple of weeks”.
“Kurdish fighters suffered from breathing difficulties” as a result of the attack near Makhmur, said CBS news, citing a German defense department statement. The gas was invented and gained infamy in World War I and was prohibited by worldwide treaty in 1993.
US officials recently suggested IS may have obtained the mustard agent in neighbouring Syria, despite the Syrian government saying that all of its stockpiles of such weapons had been destroyed. The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad admitted to having stores of mustard gas in 2013, when it agreed to give up its chemical weapons arsenal.
The testing is not definite proof of chemical weapons use, and the more extensive probes are underway to get the full make-up of the chemicals, according to the general.
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“We have only a field test that shows us the presence of HD on those fragments and until we do full testing, and we know the exact composition of the makeup of whatever was in those mortar rounds or on them, and other tests”, he said, “we won’t be able to have a firm decision on exactly what happened there”.
