Islamic State militants accused of using ‘blistering chemical agent’, likely mustard gas, in attacks in Mosul

Twelve people from the embattled city of Mosul, including a two-month-old baby, have been treated for suspected exposure to a blistering chemical agent, medics said Saturday, as Islamic State (IS) militants strike back at government-held neighbourhoods while trying to hold off advancing government forces.

The patients, who were being treated in a hospital in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, displayed symptoms of a chemical attack, including blisters, burns, respiratory problems, irritation to the eyes and vomiting. They described three separate attacks with rockets carrying gas over the past week on neighbourhoods in eastern Mosul recaptured by government forces.

“There was a hiss of gas, and then we were suffocating,” said Zeina Fawzi, who was sitting in the kitchen with her husband when a rocket exploded outside the door.

She and her husband said it dispersed black oily droplets through the air, covering the kitchen walls. She pulled down her dress to reveal a blister on her shoulder.

The militants, who still control much of the western side of the city, have regularly bombarded the eastern side with mortars and rockets, causing misery for civilians living there. More than 1 million civilians were still in the city when the offensive to retake it began nearly five months ago.