Islamic State fighters are believed to have acquired chlorine for use as chemical weapons, as they fight with Iraqi troops and allied Shi'ite militia forces in the city of Tikrit on Sunday.

Iraqi Kurdish authorities say this is proof that the Islamic militants are using chlorine against Iraqi Kurdish forces. They say chlorine was present in a car bombing attempt west of the city of Mosul.

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Baghdad, however, has yet to confirm these reports coming from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. But in another town on the northern edge of Tikrit, Iraqi soldiers and mainly Shi'ite militiamen discovered storage containers filled with chlorine.

These chemicals were found as the troops were entering the town of al-Alam last week before they fought their way into Tikrit.

Al-alam mayor Laith Al-Juboiri says, "We found a number of storage units containing chlorine that we think were seized by Daesh, from water purification stations in different parts of Tikrit."

Security forces has cordoned off the area where chlorine was found. They have also informed Baghdad authorities about the discovery of the chemical in the field.

Islamic State militias have been trading sniper fore and mortar round with Iraqi forces in Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. So far, the radical group has seized large parts of the country's north and western sides.

On Tuesday, as Iraqi forces and allied Shi'ite militias were purging the Islamic militants out of the town of Al-Alam, a Reuters photographer saw that Iraqi police were ordering mediamen to stay back, as the law enforcers detonated a bomb that was suspected to contain chlorine.

Bystanders coughed as the bomb exploded, and a yellowish plume burst into the air. The police shouted to the journalists, warning them to be careful because the chemical was chlorine.

Iraqi forces are currently conducting their biggest offensive in Tikrit. Since the Islamic militants seized the city, they have declared a caliphate over the territory, as well as in the areas they now occupy in Syria.

TagsTikrit, chlorine, chemical weapon