UNITED NATIONS, March 19 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemns multiple terrorist bombings using chlorine gas in Iraq which have wounded or sickened more than 350 people.
"The secretary-general is appalled by these attacks which are clearly intended to cause panic and instability in the country," said his spokeswoman, Michelle Montas, in condemning Monday the blasts in Al-Anbar province.
She added Ban "is confident that firm action will be taken to prevent such attacks in the future."
In his latest report to the Security Council on Iraq, released earlier this month, the secretary-general warned, "new tactics involving the use of chlorine gas in their weapons systems (are) worrisome."
Thursday, Ban's chief envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, told the council "chlorine has been used to terrorize the population."
Up until that time the actual additional casualties sustained had been "relatively low."
Chlorine gas, first used in World War I, attacks the respiratory system and can lead to death by asphyxiation.
