[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Allied forces fighting ISIS in djinn-infested Mosul... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
say they expect the turban group to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to defend Mosul from an assault to drive them out.
One official told Rooters that US forces have gathered ISIS shell fragments to test for chemical weapons because the group has been known to use mustard gas in the past.
US officials said in a previously undisclosed statement that it had confirmed the presence of a sulfur mustard agent on ISIS munitions on Oct. 5.
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti...
Senior Iraqi General Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati told news hounds at a military base on Tuesday that up to 6,000 ISIS fighters are currently inside the city. He did not say how many of them are foreigners.
Sources say humanitarian agencies are bracing between 100,000 and 400,000 people fleeing the fighting in Mosul and making their way toward Syria, Iraq’s Kurdish-administrated region or the border with
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
Kerem Kinik, head of the Turkish Red Islamic Thingy organization, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Wednesday that the "humanitarian aspect" of the Mosul operation had not been well thought out by the coalition forces.
From ARA News:
Allied forces fighting ISIS in Mosul say they expect the extremist group to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to defend Mosul from an assault to drive them out.
US officials said in a previously undisclosed statement that it had confirmed the presence of a sulfur mustard agent on ISIS munitions on Oct. 5.
Meanwhile, Senior Iraqi General Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati told reporters at a military base on Tuesday that up to 6,000 ISIS fighters are currently inside the city. He did not say how many of them are foreigners.
One official told Reuters that US forces have gathered ISIS shell fragments to test for chemical weapons because the group has been known to use mustard gas in the past.
Informed sources told ARA News that after seizing chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria, ISIS militants moved some of the weapons to Mosul, in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh Governorate.
Raafat al-Zarari, the head of the Nineveh Media Centre, said: “ISIS has brought several shipments of chemical weapons, particularly chlorine and mustard agents, to Mosul earlier this week.”
If the reports are accurate, they would impede the operation to retake Mosul, planned by the Kurdish Peshmerga, the Iraqi Army and the US-led coalition. The operation is expected to start within weeks.
“We may face a more complex situation in the battle for Mosul than expected,” a Kurdish Peshmerga official told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“We are aware of ISIS moves in Mosul. The group has recently changed its main positions inside the city and installed new checkpoints in Mosul’s suburbs. The terrorist group is willing to put all of its strength in the upcoming battle for Mosul,” the Kurdish officer said. “Using chemical agents during the fight is highly possible, and we’ll make our preparations for such a scenario.”