Islamic State deployed poison gas against civilians, rival insurgents

A report by an Israeli think tank indicates that IS militants may have used chemical weapons on July 12, 2014, in the Kurdish village of Avdiko in Syria.

Militants of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) have used chemical weapons in an attack on the northern Syrian town of Marae, medical sources reported on Tuesday.

The Daesh militants have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians in areas they have overrun. The Observatory additionally reported that relatives of the assaulted Syrian warriors had mobilized many individuals in government fortifications in western Syria in shows that encouraged the legislature to end the attack.

But unlike chorine, which has a half-life of a few minutes, mustard gas is a persistent agent, Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a chemical and biological weapons expert told The Daily Star, meaning that it can remain in the buildings and in the ground for months or even years. “One of the really big issues is that I understand people are returning to the scene and becoming ill”, he said.

Brigadier General Kevin Killea, chief of staff for American military operations in Iraq and Syria, said at the time that ISIL had used sulfur mustard in its attacks against Kurdish fighters in the northern Iraqi town of Makhmour three days earlier.

Mustard gas is an asphyxiant that has been banned in war by the UN since 1993.

The powerful irritant and blistering agent – which is commonly known as “mustard gas” but is liquid at ambient temperature – causes severe damage to the skin, eyes and respiratory system and internal organs.

The Observatory said 40 of those killed during two separate attacks on Kweiris Air Base were officers, Reuters reported. ISIS took the city from the regime in June.

Marea, the Syrian town where the toxic agent was allegedly used, is some 80 km from Aleppo, in north-western Syria, and is located on the frontline of the battle between ISIS and rebels opposing Assad. The jihadist forces sustained 62 deaths, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also said government airstrikes were being conducted in the area in a bid to stall the IS advance.