Daesh used chemicals while fleeing Mosul: HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Daesh terrorists have staged chemical attacks in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in the face of advancing Iraqi troops who are trying to retake the city.

As Daesh terrorists flee, "they have been repeatedly attacking and endangering the civilians they left behind, increasing concerns for residents of Mosul and other contested areas,” said Lama Fakih, the HRW’s Deputy Middle East Director, on Friday.

According to Press TV, Fakih said “Daesh has sought to paint itself as protector of Sunni Arabs in Iraq, yet it is willing to use chemical weapons on them in their own homes.”

According to the New York-based organization, Daesh launched at least three chemical attacks on the town of Qayyarah south of Mosul in September and October after the town came under Iraqi control in August.

The attacks inflicted burns on at least seven people, which point to the use of chemical warfare agents known as “vesicants.”

Two of the civilian-populated targets attacked by the group have been identified as a family garden and an area in the vicinity of a café.

“Daesh attacks using toxic chemicals show a brutal disregard for human life and the laws of war,” Fakih said, noting that deployment of such weaponry amounted to “war crimes.”

On Friday, UN Human Rights Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the terrorist group was reportedly stockpiling ammonia and sulfur agents in Mosul possibly for use as chemical weapons.

Daesh captured Mosul in 2014, when it launched its terrorist campaign against Iraq. It then named the city its so-called headquarters.

ME