Iraqi Shi’ite paramilitary forces have launched an operation to retake a town from which the Islamic State group launched a chemical weapons attack that killed three children, commanders said on Sunday.
"The operation aims to liberate Bashir, after we succeeded several days ago in cutting off supplies to (ISIS) in the Bashir area," said Abu Ridha al-Najjar, who is leading the operation.
Sheikh Maitham al-Zaidi, the commander of Furqat al-Abbas, one of the groups involved, also confirmed that the operation had begun. Najjar said that four pro-government fighters were killed and 40 wounded in clashes with ISIS on Sunday.
The jihadist group fired rockets suspected of carrying a mustard agent last month from Bashir on Taza Khurmatu, another town in the northern province of Kirkuk. The attack killed three children, wounded a large number of people and pushed thousands more to flee Taza out of fear that it would be repeated.