12 Treated for Chemical Weapons Agents in Mosul
Local Editor
The United Nations reported Saturday that some twelve people, including women and children, are being treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul, where Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri ‘ISIS/ISIL' group] is fighting off an offensive by US-backed Iraqi forces.
The UN's World Health Organization activated with partners and local health authorities "an emergency response plan to safely treat men, women and children who may be exposed to the highly toxic chemical," the agency said in a statement.
It said all 12 patients had been received since March 1 for treatment which they are undergoing in Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region, east of Mosul.
Four of them are showing "severe signs associated with exposure to a blister agent". The patients were exposed to the chemical agents in the eastern side of Mosul.
The International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] said Friday that five children and two women were receiving treatment for exposure to chemical agents.
The ICRC statement did not say which side used the chemical agents that caused blisters, redness in the eyes, irritation, vomiting and coughing.
Iraqi forces captured the eastern side of Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting and launched their offensive on the districts that lie west of the Tigris River on Feb. 19. The eastern side remains within reach of the terrorists' rockets and mortar shells.
Defeating Daesh in Mosul would crush the Iraqi wing of the caliphate declared by the terrorist group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in 2014, over parts of Iraq and Syria.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande, called for an investigation.
"This is horrible. If the alleged use of chemical weapons is confirmed, this is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime, regardless of who the targets or the victims of the attacks are," she said in a statement.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
Islamic Resistance in Iraq Targets “Eilat”
4 months ago
