U.S. investigating whether Islamic State launched chlorine attack in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The Islamic State allegedly launched a chlorine attack against Iraq's security forces in Duluiyah, near Balad, last month.

Police officers from the Sunni Jabbour tribe had been defending the town for several days when they heard an explosion on Sept. 15. "It was a strange explosion," Lt. Khairalla al-Jabbouri told the Washington Post. "We saw a yellow smoke in the sky" that drifted low to the ground.

The fog was suffocating, Jabbouri noted. Eleven police officers experienced dizziness, vomiting and difficulty breathing, symptoms consistent with chlorine poisoning.

Iraq's Ministry of Defense confirmed that IS militants have used chlorine attacks in a "primitive and ineffective way."

In response to the allegations of IS deploying chemical weapons in Iraq, National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said "We are aware of the reports but cannot confirm details and are seeking additional information."

IS militants are suspected in a separate alleged chemical weapons attack in the embattled Syrian town of Kobane Tuesday evening. Jordan Matson, a former American soldier from Wisconsin who has become the face of the YPG Kurdish military force in Syria, told UPI Wednesday in an exclusive interview that civilians have been burned in an Islamic State attack, with injuries consistent with chemical weapons.