An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 27 British and Canadian troops near Ypres. The agent could be dispersed in a number of muni- tions, including aerial bombs, land mines, mortar rounds, artillery shells and rockets. In the aftermath of the war, while Europe remained in rela- tive peace, chemical munitions were used in the colonies as a cheap and effective way to curb unrest. The gas contami- nated terrain and continued to remain on the ground for days and weeks. Clothing also held the gas and those coming into contact with gas-infected people were in turn con- taminated and made ill. Com- manders used the weapon as an area de- nial weapon that forced opponents to abandon contami- nated areas, thereby limiting their areas of operation. As the Cold War developed, the oppos- ing sides developed chemical and biological weapons and also the means of protec- tion against such attacks. While the deployment of such weapons and the use of chemical warfare were prohib- ited by the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and later by the Chemi- cal Weapons Convention in 1993, certain countries refused to adhere to these rulings, and continued to stockpile and use chemical weapons. In the invasion of Iraq in 2003 many chemical weap- ons were captured and later destroyed by coalition forces but some stockpiles found their way into the hands of insurgents. These devices were used against Coali- tion forces in roadside IEDs, making them even deadlier. A US military report in September 2012 stated that insurgent groups such as ISIS were manufacturing and using sulphur-mustard gas in Syria and Iraq. ISIS has used chemical weapons against Iraqi and Syrian military personnel and also against civilians. Their technology, though limited, has enabled them to develop chlorine gas and low-grade sulphur-mustard gas. Using the stockpiles and components left over from the Ba'athist regime in Iraq, they have formed a specialist unit for chemical weapons research In 2015 a number of attacks against Kurdish YPG militia involved ISIS fighters firing a number of makeshift chemi- cal projectiles. In the ensuing battles ISIS soldiers killed in the fighting were discovered to be carrying gas masks. These initial attacks were considered test cases for the future use for the larger deployments of such weapons in offensives. Mustard gas was identified in these attacks by the Organi- sation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and also in other attacks in the region, some against civilian targets. Coalition air strikes have targeted ISIS's manufactur- ing facilities, destroying large quantities of the gas before it can be deployed. As unrest in the region continues and such gases are easy to produce, insurgent groups will carry on manufac- turing and deploying them as they attempt to deny ground to advancing allied forces. On the allied side, intel- ligence and round-the-clock precision bombing are targeting insurgent facilities, denying them the capabil- ity to produce their 'poor man's atom bomb'. British troops blinded by tear gas during the Battle of Estaires, 1918. Photo: 2nd Lt Thomas Keith Aitken, © IWM (Q 11586) UN chemical weapons experts collecting samples from an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus, Syria. Photo: Bassam Khabieh/Reuters

• Cover