March 4 (UPI) -- The World Health
Organization said there is evidence of chemical weapons being used
against civilians outside Mosul, with a dozen people injured, four
severely, in the several days.
The WHO in a statement Friday said it has activated an emergency
response to the alleged chemical weapons at medical facilities
surrounding the northern Iraqi city. The Iraqi government has waged a
months-long military campaign to oust the
Islamic State from Mosul, its last major stronghold in the country.
Since Wednesday, the WHO said 12 people, including women and
children, have sought medical treatment for symptoms consistent with
chemical weapons that caused burning and blisters. The victims lived in
the Mosul suburb of Erbil, the WHO said.
"Since the beginning of the Mosul crisis, WHO has been taking
concrete steps to ensure preparedness for the potential use of chemical
weapons, together with local health authorities,"
the WHO said in a statement Friday.
"As part of a chemical weapons contingency plan, WHO experts have
trained more than 120 clinicians and provided them with equipment to
safely decontaminate and stabilize patients before they are referred to
pre-identified hospitals for further care."
The International Committee of the Red Cross
confirmed the WHO's findings,
saying it had found evidence of seven victims at a hospital close to
Mosul. It was unclear whether those victims were among the 12 identified
by the WHO.
"During the past two days, the hospital has admitted five children
and two women showing clinical symptoms consistent with an exposure to a
blistering chemical agent," said Robert Mardini, the Red Cross regional
director for the Middle East. "The use of chemical weapons is
absolutely prohibited under international humanitarian law. We are
deeply alarmed by what our colleagues have seen, and we strongly condemn
any use of chemical weapons, by any party, anywhere."
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