MAKHMUR, Kurdistan Region — Peshmerga officials say they have asked international experts to examine wounded Peshmerga soldiers who they fear were exposed to chemical weapons by Islamic State militants.

Muhammad Khoshawi, a Peshmerga commander, told Rudaw a group of US and French experts had arrived in the area to take samples and establish facts after a Tuesday night mortar attack on Kurdish positions in Makhmur, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of Erbil.

“Last night at least 45 mortar rounds were fired at our positions, which we believe were loaded with chemicals, since the wounds are different,” Khoshawi, whose forces patrol the area, said.

Burn wounds on the bodies of a number of Peshmerga were examined by the experts and sent to a laboratory for further studies, according to Khoshawi.

He said Peshmerga forces in the area were instructed to use gas masks in case of mortar attacks until results are verified in the laboratory.

Rudaw