The toxic shell exploded near a Kurdish defense forces’ checkpoint close to the border with Turkey in the city of Ras al-Ayn in the northern province of al-Hasakah on Tuesday.

The attack was, according to the Lebanese TV channel Al-Mayadeen, reported by Kurdish defense forces fighting against the terrorist groups in the region.

They are quoted as saying they saw toxic yellow smoke that followed the shell explosion, while some of them had symptoms of severe chemical intoxication accompanied by al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front.

The reported chemical attack comes amid the second day of fierce fighting in Ras al-Ayn city.

The Kurdish forces have successfully repelled several attacks by terrorist groups of the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, killing 28 terrorists.

This comes as the joint mission of UN international experts and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is in Syria to inspect the sites of the toxic attacks and destroy chemical weapons.

The joint mission was launched after the US and its allies threatened to apply military action on Syria following the alleged August 21 attack in Damascus’ eastern Ghouta suburb, which killed between dozens and 1,300 people.

Syria officially became an OPCW member at the beginning of October, in an attempt to resolve the chemical weapons issue in the war-torn country.

Damascus also began destroying the first chemical weapons at that time, which, according to the deal brokered by the US and Russia in September, must be fully eliminated by June 30, 2014.

NTJ/BA