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We will retaliate against Daesh chemical attack, Iraqi PM says

Saturday, 12 March 2016 4:06 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 12 March 2016 4:07 PM ]

People protest against attacks by the Daesh terror group on their village in Taza, south of Kirkuk, March 10, 2016. ©Reuters

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Saturday the Takfiri Daesh terrorists will be punished for a recent chemical attack in northern Iraq that claimed the life of a young girl.

The suspected mustard gas attack targeted the town of Taza, Kirkuk Province, on March 9 from the nearby village of Bashir, which is under the control of Daesh.

The attack left dozens of people injured and hospitalized, including three-year-old Fatima Samir, who died of respiratory complications and kidney failure in hospital on Friday.

Prime Minister Abadi said in a Saturday statement that the attack on Taza “will not go unpunished.”

Hundreds of mourners held a funeral on Friday for Fatima while some of them carried placards demanding protection.

According to Burhan Abdallah, the head of Kirkuk health directorate, four people were in serious condition after the gas attack and have been taken to the capital, Baghdad.

Samples have been collected from the site of the attack and are being examined by experts to determine the chemical agent used in the deadly assault. Local officials believe it is mustard agent.

The Iraqi air force hit Bashir with a strike overnight. Abadi promised a ground operation to recapture the town from Daesh.

The Takfiri militants have so far launched similar chemical attacks in both Syria and Iraq, where they have been wreaking havoc over the past months. Although the attacks have not caused many casualties, it is believed that they have detrimental psychological effects.

Iraqis bury three-year-old Fatima Samir, who died after a chemical attack by the Daesh terror group on the town of Taza, south of Kirkuk, on March 11, 2016. ©AFP

Earlier in March, Iraqi intelligence officials said head of Daesh’s unit responsible for developing chemical weapons was arrested in a February raid in the northern part of the country.

Daesh, which holds parts of Iraq, has reportedly been trying to produce chemical weapons and is thought to have formed a special unit for chemical weapons research. Iraqi scientists from the Saddam-era weapons program as well as foreign experts are to reportedly be working for the terror group.

However, experts say the terror group cannot carry out a huge chemical weapons attack as such an offensive needs proper equipment, materials and a supply-chain to develop enough of the chemical agent.

Daesh terrorists launched an offensive in Iraq in June 2014 and took control of swathes of the Iraqi territory. The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in the Arab country, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

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