Kurdish Forces Claim IS Used Chemical Shells

A Kurdish military officer and a medical official say Islamic State terrorists last Friday fired mortar shells believed to have been filled with a chemical substance, possibly chlorine, at Kurdish troops close to the Iraqi town of Sinjar, wounding 30 of their soldiers.

Dr. Afrasiab Mussa Yones, director of Dohuk hospital, told The Associated Press Thursday that nine Kurdish soldiers were admitted with symptoms including vomiting, nausea, shortness of breath and itching.

Yones says that further analysis is required, but the symptoms suggest chlorine was used.

Col. Lukhman Kulli Ibrahim says that he lost consciousness when the mortar struck. He struggled to breathe and he felt his eyes and chest were burning.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed that IS used mustard gas on Kurdish forces last August.