Daesh taking chemical arms to Mosul: Kurdish politician

By Idris Octugi

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) – A Kurdish politician has claimed that the Daesh terrorist group has recently moved stocks of chemical weapons from Syria into Iraq’s northern city of Mosul.

Hayas Surji, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, said Daesh was preparing for an anticipated offensive by Iraqi forces to capture Mosul, which Daesh has controlled since mid-2014.

"We have intelligence that Daesh has brought chemical weapons -- captured from the Syrian regime -- into Mosul," Surji told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

He ruled out the possibility, however, that Daesh militants would use the weapons inside the city.

"But they may use them in surrounding areas," he warned.

Surji went on to put the number of Daesh fighters currently in Mosul at about 4,000.

"Most of the group’s foreign fighters have by now fled to Syria," he asserted.

In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul -- Iraq’s second largest city -- along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army -- backed by a 60-nation coalition led by the U.S. -- retake much territory, especially in the western Anbar province.

Nevertheless, Daesh remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.

Iraqi troops and Kurdish peshmerga fighters have recently captured a number of areas on the outskirts of Mosul, which Iraqi officials have vowed to recapture by year’s end.