Iraqi Kurdish officials have accused Islamic State (IS) militants of using "poisonous substances" in the shelling of a village in northern Iraq.
The officials said the attack with mortar shells and Katyusha rockets filled with a chemical agent took place on March 8 in Taza, a mainly Shi'ite Turkoman village about 20 kilometers south of Kirkuk, a region under Kurdish control.
Kirkuk Province Governor Najmuddin Kareem said more than 40 people were hospitalized with respiratory problems and skin irritation.
None of the victims died, although five remained hospitalized late on March 9.
Wasta Rasul, a commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the region, said a total of 24 shells and rockets were fired into Taza from the nearby Bashir area, which is under the control of Islamic State militants.
The allegations came a day after Syrian Kurdish militia accused Islamic militants and other groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of shelling a mainly Kurdish residential neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo with chemical agents.
