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The Iraq War

Prior to the war

Iraq disarmament crisis WMD claims UN actions... UN Security Council... Rationale for the Iraq War

Invasion and occupation

2003 invasion of Iraq Occupation of Iraq ...Casualties Multinational force Iraqi insurgency Terrorist attacks

Aftermath to present

Coalition Provisional Authority Iraqi Refugees Iraq Survey Group (WMD) Reconstruction of Iraq Human rights... Civil war in Iraq

Opinion

Views on the War Opposition to the Iraq War Protests against... Legitimacy... Opinions... List of People

Related

Years: '03 • '04 • '05 • '06 • '07 Other: Wikinews • Images This box: view • talk • edit

Chlorine bombings in Iraq began in January 2007, when terrorists in Al Anbar province started using chlorine gas in conjunction with conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices. Chlorine is a poisonous gas, and was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. Low level exposure results in burning sensations to the eyes, nose & throat, usually accompanied by dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Higher levels of exposure can cause fatal lung damage; but because the gas is heavier than air it will not dissipate well after an explosion, and so it is generally considered ineffective as an improvised chemical weapon.

The inaugural chlorine attacks in Iraq were described as poorly executed, probably because much of the chemical agent was rendered nontoxic by the heat of the accompanying explosives.^[1] Subsequent, more refined, attacks resulted in hundreds of injuries, but have proven not to be a viable means of inflicting massive loss of life. Their primary impact has therefore been to cause widespread panic, with large numbers of civilians suffering non life-threatening, but nonetheless highly traumatic, injuries.

• January 28: A suicide bomber drove a dump truck packed with explosives and a chlorine tank into an emergency response unit compound in Ramadi. No one appeared to have been injured by the chlorine gas, the US military said, but 16 people were killed in the blast.^[2]

• February 19: A suicide bombing in Ramadi involving chlorine killed two Iraqi security forces and wounded 16 other people.^[3]

• February 20: A bomb blew up a tanker carrying chlorine north of Baghdad, killing nine and emitting fumes that made 148 others ill, including 42 women and 52 children.^[4]

• February 21: A pickup truck carrying chlorine gas cylinders exploded in Baghdad, killing at least five people and hospitalising over 50.^[5]

• March 16: Three separate suicide attacks on this day used chlorine. The first attack was at 4:11 p.m at a checkpoint northeast of Ramadi, when a truck bomb resulted in no fatalities, but wounded one US service member and one Iraqi civilian. A second truck bomb detonated in Falluja, killing two policemen and leaving a hundred Iraqis showing signs of chlorine exposure (with symptoms ranging from minor skin & lung irritation to vomiting). Forty minutes later, yet another chlorine-laden truck bomb exploded at the entrance to a housing estate south of Falluja, this time injuring 250 (including 27 children).^[6][7]

• March 27: Insurgents with two chlorine truck bombs attacked a local government building in Fallujah, the U.S. military said. It said 15 Iraqi and U.S. soldiers were wounded in the blasts and many more suffered chlorine poisoning.^[8]

• April 6: Chlorine truck bomber kills 27 in Ramadi.^[9]

• Chlorine gas attacks hint at new enemy strategy, Associated Press
• Concern over Iraqi chemical bombs, BBC News
• U.S.: Iraq bomb factory raid nets deadly chlorine supply, CNN