Multiple casualties as Daesh stages chlorine gas attacks in Iraq

At least three Iraqis have lost their lives after Daesh terrorists fired mortars containing chemical agents against civilian areas south of Mosul as Iraqi forces press ahead with the large battle to liberate the northern city.

On Saturday night, the Takfiri militants fired 15 mortar shells, some of which filled with chlorine gas, at a village in Sharqat district, located on Tigris River banks 100 kilometers south of Mosul.

An unnamed Iraqi security source told Iraq’s War Media Cell that the victims of the incident were all members of a family. Two others were also wounded in the attack.

The attack comes days after New York-based Human Rights Watch warned against the use of toxic chemicals by Daesh militants in areas near Mosul as the terror outfit is making desperate attempts to keep its last stronghold in Iraq in the face of a large-scale liberation operation there.

“The use of toxic chemicals as a means of warfare is a serious threat to civilians and combatants in and around the embattled city of Mosul, and is a war crime,” HRW said.

Lama Fakih, Deputy Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch said the use of such banned arms show “a brutal disregard for human life,” adding that as the terrorists keep fleeing the areas under their control, “they have been repeatedly attacking and endangering the civilians they left behind.”

In another development, two fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units were killed at a bombing in a district situated north of the central city of Ramadi, Iraq’s al-Sumaria news website reported.

The victims were trying to defuse improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines planted in a house, according to the report.