Kurds say blood tests show IS used mustard agent against fighters in Iraq

By Isabel Coles and Babak Dehghanpisheh ERBIL (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters fired mortar rounds containing mustard agent at Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq during clashes in August, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said on Wednesday. Blood samples taken from the approximately 35 Kurdish fighters who were exposed in the attack southwest of the regional capital Erbil, along with an examination of injuries, showed "signatures of sulfur mustard", the body which oversees the Kurdish armed forces in northern Iraq said in a statement. (Reporting By Isabel Coles and Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Catherine Evans)