(Times - UK) Michael Theodoulou - Tehran estimates that during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, 100,000 Iranian soldiers and civilians were exposed to Iraqi chemical weapons, mostly mustard and nerve gases. Iranian doctors say that between 2,000 and 3,000 of Saddam’s victims are still under medical surveillance, with about 1,000 severely injured with chronic lung diseases. The mortality rate among those exposed to nerve gas, which paralyzes the muscles and respiratory system, was much higher than among those who suffered mustard gas attacks, which produce blisters first on the skin and then inside the lungs. Some 5,000 Iraqi Kurdish civilians were massacred by chemical bombing at Halabja in 1988 by Saddam Hussein's regime.
2002-10-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive