Iraqi girl dies after Daesh chemical attack

Kirkuk - The rockets fired on Taza from the nearby Daesh-held town of Bashir contained mustard agent.

A three-year-old Iraqi girl wounded in a chemical attack by the Daesh group died in hospital on Friday, medical sources and officials said.
"She died of respiratory complications and kidney failure... caused by the mustard agent used by Daesh in Taza," said Masrour Aswad, of the Iraqi Commission for Human Rights.
Fatima Samir was among the dozens of people hospitalised after a chemical attack carried out Wednesday on the town of Taza, just south of the city of Kirkuk.
Burhan Abdallah, the head of Kirkuk health directorate, said four people in serious condition were transferred to Baghdad.
Aswad said the rockets fired on Taza from the nearby Daesh-held town of Bashir contained mustard agent. Other security officials said chlorine may have been used.
Intelligence officials have collected samples that are still being analysed.
Daesh has used both chemical agents in the past, a tactic which has caused few casualties and whose impact so far has been more psychological than military.
Abu Ridha Al Najjar, a leader in the Turkmen branch of the Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary umbrella group, said the attack had sown fear. "International NGOs should come to the region to see the effects of such shelling and its consequences on the civilian population, including after the attack," he said.

• MENA