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Chemical Weapons in Iraq
Iraqi militants committed a series of terrorist acts last week using chemical weapons. Three chlorine bombs killed at least eight people and sickened more than 350. Experts call the new tactic a form of intimidation. Iraqi authorities and the Pentagon are concerned that the militants will begin to use chemical war agents, which could lead to victims in the thousands.
The first explosion took place at about 4:00 p.m. last Friday near a checkpoint at the entrance to the city of Ramadi. It was set off by a suicide bomber. An American soldier and a passerby received minor injuries from fragments from the small blast. A few minutes later, dozens of people nearby experienced skin irritation, trouble breathing, nausea and other symptoms of poisoning. Inspection showed that a plastic container with chlorine had been in the back of the pickup where the suicide bomber had blown himself up.
The next blast took place two hours later 16 km. south of Al Fallujah. Two Iraqi policemen were killed in the blast and about 100 people suffered from poisoning. The third blast was the most powerful of all of them. It took place 40 minutes after the second, and also near Al Fallujah. Experts estimate that at least 900 liters of chlorine were used in it. Six people were killed in that blast, and over 250 hospitalized.
No group has claimed responsibility for the terrorist acts yet. Iraqi authorities and the American military have tentatively attributed the acts to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, noting that all three terrorist acts took place in the Anbar Province, which is the heartland of Sunni resistance. In the places were the blasts occurred, the local populace is relatively loyal to government. The third blast took place near the home of a local clan leader in the town of Albu Issa who had expressed support for the Iraqi police and opposition to Al Qaeda. March 16 was the 19th anniversary of the chemical attack by the Saddam Hussein regime on Kurds in the north of the country. About 5000 people died and 20,000 were injured in that 1988 attack.
Two other terrorist act involving chlorine have taken place this year, both in Anbar Province. They resulted in many fewer casualties. Chlorine is easily obtainable in Iraq.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 19, 2007
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