Newly surfaced photographs of Kurdish fighting victims indicate that the Islamic State may have used chemical weapons to spread their swath of terror through the Middle East, a new report reveals.
“The evidence appears to support the contention that on at least one occasion, Islamic State forces did employ some form of chemical agent, acquired from somewhere,” wrote Jonathan Spyer, the author of the report in the Middle East Review of International Affairs, The Blaze reported.
The photographs show the bodies of those who battled Islamic State terrorists in July at a border town near Kobani. And the images seem to reveal that they were attacked with a chemical agent, unnamed Israeli experts told MERIA, The Blaze reported. These experts said mustard gas was most likely used, but admitted that it’s impossible to tell simply by looking at photos.
The photos were too graphic to post, The Blaze reported.
But Nisan Ahmed, the health minister of the Kurdish authority in Kobani, said he’s nearly convinced chemically weaponry was used — the bodies don’t have bullet holes, he said, The Blaze reported.
“Burns and white spots on the bodies of the dead indicated the use of chemicals, which led to death without any visible wounds or external bleeding,” he said, MERIA reported.
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The watchdog group said Islamic State terrorists may have obtained chemical agents from a compound that they captured near the city of Raqqa in Syria, The Blaze reported.
Meanwhile, Mr. Spyer said the CIA reported in 2007 that chemical weapons were indeed present at the Raqqa-area compound.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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