US Investigating Whether ISIS Used Chemical Weapons Against Kurds

“Based on previous information, we found these reports plausible”, the official told AFP, referring to a Wall Street Journal story citing US and German sources that said the extremist group had used the banned chemical weapon.

The White House’s National Security Council said it was aware of the reports and was seeking more information.

A spokesman for the ministry said: “We have indications that there was an attack with chemical weapons”.

A senior official from the Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers, who are fighting back against the Islamic State in Iraq, said the “Peshmerga forces in the Makhmur area 50 kilometers west of the city of Arbil were attacked with Katyusha rockets filled with chlorine”.

In 2013, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin brokered a deal under which Assad supposedly destroyed all his chemical weapons but inspectors said later they had not been able to verify the destruction of mustard agent, which creates the gas. The gas was invented and gained infamy in World War I and was prohibited by worldwide treaty in 1993. Past reports by U.S. intelligence agencies have suggested the militants used toxic chlorine gas during attacks.

The use of Mustard Gas was reported by the Iraqi Kurd fighters. “Any use of chemical and biological materials as a weapon is inconsistent with global standards and norms”.

File under bad, but not surprising: United States officials say they suspect ISIS used mustard agent against Kurdish fighters in Iraq this week.

Meanwhile, US warplanes Wednesday carried out their first air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria after taking off from a Turkish base, kicking off a key new phase in the campaign against the jihadists.

She added that as a result of earlier chemical weapons use by the Syrian government, the U.S. and its partners now have advanced forensic systems to analyze chemical weapons attacks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mustard gas, also known as sulfur mustard, is a chemical warfare agent.

The banned chemical weapon could have been obtained by ISIL either in Iraq or Syria, another country where the militants have made significant advances, the newspaper said on Thursday.

The Kurds were victims of a massive chemical attack in 1988 when the regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein unleashed chemical weapons in the town of Halabja, killing thousands.