DHAKA: Kurdish authorities in Iraq said they have evidence that fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against their peshmerga forces.

The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said in a statement on Saturday that EU-certified laboratory tests showed that soil and clothing samples collected from the remnants of a suicide blast in northern Iraq in January had levels of chlorine that indicated the substance was used as a weapon.

The Kurdish allegation could not be independently confirmed, reports the Al Jazeera.

The statement said that a lorry loaded with around 20 gas canisters exploded on a highway between the Iraqi city of Mosul and Syria, as Kurdish fighters were being deployed following an offensive against ISIL fighters.

However, about a dozen peshmerga fighters experienced symptoms of nausea, vomiting, dizziness or weakness, the source said, which could be attributed to exposure to chlorine.

The KRSC also reported witnessing signs of chlorine used in recent fighting around the Iraqi city of Tikri.

Chlorine is a toxic agent whose use is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.

BDST: 1152 HRS, MAR 15, 2015