Report: Daesh attacks Turkmen with chemical weapons

By Ali Mukarrem Garip

KIRKUK, Iraq

Arshad Salihi, the head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, said in a statement that the Daesh terrorist group had used chemical weapons against Turkmen town of Taza Khurmatu, south of Kirkuk.

Salihi said his statement was based on a report issued Tuesday by the Netherlands-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

“OPCW’s report verified Daeshs’s attacks on the Turkmen town of Taza Khurmatu by chemical weapons. Daesh has materials to produce these kinds of prohibited weapons [...] and has also experts to produce these weapons,” Salihi said.

Salihi added that the Iraqi central government had not done its duty toward the town asserting that “Turkey provided the needed help for the injured.”

On March 9, the Daesh terrorist group attacked the Taza Khurmatu town located around 20 kilometers South of Kirkuk, with mortar cannons that reportedly included chemical weapons. Three civilians were killed in the attack and hundreds others injured.