The United States is investigating reports that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used chlorine gas to attack Iraqi security forces, Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday.
{mosads}“These allegations are extremely serious,” Kerry said, according to Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that officials in the region believed that ISIS fighters stole the chlorine gas from a water treatment plant near the city of Dhuluiya, about 50 miles from Baghdad.
The subsequent, alleged chemical weapons attack left a dozen people hospitalized in serious condition.
If confirmed, it would be the first confirmed case of ISIS using chemical weapons on the battlefield.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the administration took “seriously allegations of chemical weapons use.”
“We’ll have staff on the ground and other places analyze what exactly happened and try to get to the bottom of these reports,” he continued. “But I’m not in a position to confirm them at this point.”
Asked if the use of chemical weapons would change U.S. strategy toward combating ISIS, Earnest wouldn’t say.
“We’re going to review those reports before we draw any conclusions,” Earnest said.
President Obama has ruled out the use of U.S. ground forces in the fight against the terror network, saying local and coalition partners would need to provide the boots on the ground.
“We continue to take all allegations of [chemical weapons] use — and in particular these recent allegations regarding the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon — very seriously,” Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told The New York Times.
A Pentagon spokesman, Maj. Brad Avots, told the Journal that “the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon is an abhorrent act.”
“These recent allegations underscore the importance of our work to eliminate chemical weapons in this volatile region,” Avots said.
The Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons during that country’s civil war last year prompted the White House to call for military strikes against the regime. A vote to authorize such military action was stalling in Congress when the Syrian government agreed to a deal brokered by Moscow to turn over its chemical weapons cache for destruction by the international community.
This story was updated at 3:06 p.m.