Iraqi forces uncover Daesh mustard gas stockpiles, rockets

An Iraqi military commander confirmed that pro-government forces discovered a quantity of chemical warfare agents from the terrorist group of Daesh in Mosul.

The commander, Brigadier General Haider Fadhil of the Iraqi Special Forces said that tests this week by French experts confirmed the agent was sulfur mustard, the New Arab reported.
Better known as mustard gas, the chemical was widely used during the First World War and leads to the blistering of exposed skin and, if inhaled, the lungs.
Iraqi troops showed journalists a tank of the chemical agent and a warehouse of more than a dozen surface-to-surface rockets in eastern Mosul, said General Fadhil, adding that Baghdad believes that the terrorist group of Daesh (ISIL) was attempting to fit rockets with chemical agents which could then be used against the Iraqi army or civilians.
Iraqi officials and their allies have repeatedly warned of ISIL attempts to develop chemical weapons.
The terror group have, however, caused a handful of casualties from usually low grade chemical attacks in Iraq and Syria.
If ISIL were successful in weaponizing rockets with the discovered chemicals, it would have put more Iraqi cities within reach of chemical attacks.

EA