US believes Islamic State likely used mustard agent in Iraq attack

But experts sounded a word of caution over the reports that a mustard agent had been used in Iraq.

A Pentagon spokesperson refused to confirm the report to TheBlaze, only saying that officials are “looking into this”.

Kurdish officials said their peshmerga forces were attacked August 12 near Makhmur, 60 kilometers south of Ibril, and the German Defense Ministry said some 60 Kurdish fighters suffered breathing difficulties from the attack – a telltale sign of chemical weapons.

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.

In addition to mustard, the Assad regime admitted to having deadlier nerve agents, such as sarin and VX.

At least three militia fighters were killed on Friday when Islamic State launched auto bomb attacks against a makeshift headquarters in al-Rayash, about 18 km (5 miles) south of Baiji, a militia leader and a source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said. The other possibility is that they were found by IS in Iraq and date from Saddam Hussein’s time.

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”.

For its part, the Pentagon said Thursday it is “seeking additional information” about the alleged attack.

“Mustard isn’t VX or sarin”, the senior U.S. military official said.

One has to assume that the Islamic State will try to use chemical weapons in the UK, but the fact is that these kind of weapons don’t travel very well. While U.S. and global forces are trained to deal with the threat, the Peshmerga, Iraqi forces and moderate Syrian rebels may not be, he added.