Iraqi Kurdish forces hit with chemical weapon attack

“We continue to monitor these reports closely, and would further stress that any use of chemicals or biological material as a weapon is completely inconsistent with global standards and norms regarding such capabilities”, Baskey said (not that ISIS cares about such things).

“We have indications that there was an attack with chemical weapons” against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters that left many suffering from “respiratory irritation”, a German defence ministry spokesman told AFP.

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.

The Wall Street Journal cited US officials as saying they believe last week’s attack used mustard gas, which may have come from stockpiles of banned poisons that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was forced to get rid of after joining the OPCW in 2013.

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.

U.S. intelligence agencies are still trying to determine the origin of the chemicals involved in the three attacks.

The Chemical Weapons Convention, a disarmament agreement, was adopted in 1992, which was followed by the birth of The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in 1997, according to the UN. The chemical used had characteristics and clinical effects “consistent with a chlorine chemical agent”, the groups said.

At the time, U.S. state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki claimed the bunkers “don’t include intact chemical weapons… and would be very hard, if not impossible, to safely use this for military purposes or, frankly, to move it”.

Islamic State fighters have been battling government forces and Kurdish fighters for control over Iraq’s northern regions. Officials say these forces may need specialized equipment and training to help protect them against unconventional weapons if they become a fixture on the battlefield.