Iraqi Turkmen officials said the terrorist Daesh group has carried out a chemical attack on the town of Tuz Khurmatu in the northern province of Saladin and could take over Kirkuk.

Activists said at least 30 of the town's 300 residents suffered severe burns and suffocation following the chlorine gas attack.

"Daesh has used Mosul University to develop the chlorine gas used in Tuz Khurmatu," Iraqi Turkmen Front President Arshad al-Salihi told Anadolu Agency from Kirkuk. "If we cannot expel Daesh from Bashir and Tuz Khurmatu, the terror could spill to Kirkuk."

The village of Bashir, five kilometers from Tuz Khurmatu, has been under the terrorist group's control since 2014 when it overran Mosul.

Last month, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Daesh used mustard and chlorine gas in an attack on Kurdish peshmerga forces in 2015.