Kurdish authorities in Iraq have claimed they have evidence Islamic State fighters have used chemical weapons against peshmerga fighters.
The allegations have been made by the Kurdistan Region Security Council, who say clothing and soil samples were taken following a suicide attack in northern Iraq in January.
Reuters quotes a statement from the organisation saying "the samples contained levels of chlorine that suggested the substance was used in weaponized form.
"The fact ISIS relies on such tactics demonstrates it has lost the initiative and is resorting to desperate measures," the group added.
Associated Press quotes a council source as saying soldiers experienced “dizziness, nausea, vomiting and general weakness” after the attack.
The incident is said to have taken place between the city of Mosul and the Syrian border. The claims have yet to be independently verified.
Chlorine was first used as a chemical weapon in World War 1, and has been banned as a weapon as part of the Chemical Weapons Convention 1997. There have been allegations it has been used in the Syrian Civil War, and also in Duluiyah in Iraq during an attack last year.
