Iraqi Insurgents Use Chlorine Gas in Bombs

Iraqi insurgents have added poisonous chlorine gas to their armory and two bombs using the chemical have killed 12 and injured 200 in a week.

Toxic chlorine gas was the primary ingredient in a bomb that exploded near a hospital in the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Bayaa Wednesday, killing six and sending 70 to the hospital with respiratory problems, an Interior Ministry official told CNN.

A tanker of chlorine gas exploded outside a restaurant north of Baghdad in Taji Tuesday, killing six and injuring 140, CNN reported.

In January, a suicide bomber drove a truck carrying a chlorine gas tank and explosives into a military response unit compound in Ramadi, killing 16 people, the U.S. military reported, CNN said. No one appeared to be injured by the gas in that attack, CNN reported.

CNN said the use of chemical attacks was a chilling reminder of the days of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, whose reliance on chemical weapons was among the crimes against humanity for which he was tried.