Amnesty International warned today of the danger posed by white phosphorus munitions, saying they should not be used during the operation to retake Mosul in areas where civilians are present.
Iraq launched the drive to recapture the city from the Islamic State group last week, and the country's forces are closing in on Mosul from the north, east and west.
Amnesty said it had received credible photographic evidence and witness testimony pointing to the employment of white phosphorus, which is generally used to create smoke screens, north of a village east of Mosul.
"White phosphorus can cause horrific injuries, burning deep into the muscle and bone," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's Senior Crisis Response Adviser, said in a statement.
"It is possible that some of it will only partially burn and could then reignite weeks after being deployed," Rovera said.
Amnesty called on Iraqi as well US-led coalition forces, which are also firing artillery in support of the Mosul operation, not to use white phosphorus in areas where civilians are present, or will be in the future.
IS overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but has since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces, and Mosul is now the last city in the country to be held by the jihadists.
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