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U.S. tests for mustard agent after rocket attack near Iraq base
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS | Wed Sep 21, 2016 | 7:08pm EDT
U.S. tests for mustard agent after rocket attack near Iraq base
By Phil Stewart | WASHINGTON
The U.S. military is testing to see if a chemical agent may have been used in a rocket attack in Iraq by Islamic State that came within hundreds of yards (meters) of U.S. forces but injured no one, a U.S. military official said on Wednesday.
The rocket fell on Tuesday in an unpopulated area near the Qayyara West base, where hundreds of U.S. forces are working to prepare an airfield ahead of Iraq's offensive to retake the city of Mosul from the radical group Islamic State, said the official, who spoke with Pentagon reporters on condition of anonymity.
A group of U.S. forces inspected the fragments afterwards and took a small sample of a suspicious "tar-like, black, oily" substance, which initially tested positive for mustard agent but then tested negative in a subsequent examination, the official said. Further tests were underway. The incident was first reported by CNN.
As a precaution, they underwent routine decontamination procedures, including showers, but did not display symptoms that would typically show up within 12 hours of exposure.
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U.S. tests for mustard agent after rocket attack near Iraq base
By Phil Stewart | WASHINGTON
The U.S. military is testing to see if a chemical agent may have been used in a rocket attack in Iraq by Islamic State that came within hundreds of yards (meters) of U.S. forces but injured no one, a U.S. military official said on Wednesday.
The rocket fell on Tuesday in an unpopulated area near the Qayyara West base, where hundreds of U.S. forces are working to prepare an airfield ahead of Iraq's offensive to retake the city of Mosul from the radical group Islamic State, said the official, who spoke with Pentagon reporters on condition of anonymity.
A group of U.S. forces inspected the fragments afterwards and took a small sample of a suspicious "tar-like, black, oily" substance, which initially tested positive for mustard agent but then tested negative in a subsequent examination, the official said. Further tests were underway. The incident was first reported by CNN.
As a precaution, they underwent routine decontamination procedures, including showers, but did not display symptoms that would typically show up within 12 hours of exposure.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-chemical-idUSKCN11R2RB
