The government of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region says several Peshmerga troops have tested positive for mustard gas after battles in August with Islamic State (IS) fighters.
The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said on October 7 that blood samples taken from some 35 fighters who were exposed in the attack southwest of the regional capital, Irbil, along with an examination of wounds, showed "signatures of sulfur mustard."
The samples were sent to a laboratory outside of Iraq for analysis, the statement said.
It did not say if any of the troops had died as a result of the attack or how severely they had been wounded.
The ministry also called on countries fighting the IS group to give Peshmerga fighters equipment for protection against chemical attacks.
IS militants had previously been accused of using chemical weapons in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.