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ByElenaBecatoros The Associated Press MURSITPINAR , TURKEY New allegations have emerged that Islamic State extremists have expanded their arsenal with chlorine bombs and captured fighter jets — weapons that could help the militants in Iraq and Syria. Kurdish fighters in the key Syrian border town of Kobani have held off a month-long offensive by the Islamic State group with the help of a U.S.-led cam- paign of airstrikes. Turkey's president said he will allow Syrian rebels to transit through his coun- try to help the town's belea- guered defenders, but both the Kurds and the rebels denied any such plan was in the works, underscoring differences over strategy that are hindering efforts to roll back the extremists. In Iraq, officials said Is- lamic State militants used chlorine gas during fight- ing with security forces and Shiite militiamen last month north of Baghdad. If the reports are confirmed, it would be the first time the Sunni extremists tried to use chlorine since their sei- zure of large parts of Syria and northern Iraq earlier this year. The statements in Iraq came two days after Kurd- ish officials and doctors said they believed IS mil- itants had released some kind of toxic gas in an east- ern district of Kobani. Aysa Abdullah, a senior Kurdish official based in the town, mentioned the attack took place late Tuesday and that some people suffered symp- toms that included dizzi- ness and watery eyes. She and other officials said doc- tors lacked the equipment to establish what kinds of chemicals were used. U.S. Secretary of John Kerry said he could not con- firm the Iraqi allegations that toxic gas was used against security forces and Shiite militias, but he called the charges "extremely seri- ous." He said chlorine can be considered a chemical weapon if it is mixed with other toxic agents. "The use of any chemical weapon is an abhorrent act," Kerry said at a news confer- ence in Washington. "It's against international law. And these recent allegations underscore the importance of the work that we are cur- rently engaged in." Three Iraqi officials — a senior security official, a local official from Duluiya and an official from Balad — told The Associated Press that the Islamic State group used bombs with chlorine- filled cylinders during clashes in late September in the two towns. The militants have failed to capture both Duluiya, 45 miles north of Baghdad, and Balad, 50 miles north of the Iraqi capital. In the attacks, about 40 troops and Shiite militia- men were slightly affected by the chlorine and showed symptoms consistent with chlorine poisoning, such as difficulty in breathing and coughing, the three offi- cials said. The troops were treated at a hospital and re- covered quickly. The senior security offi- cial said it was most likely that the Islamic State fight- ers used chlorine from wa- ter purification plants lo- cated in the areas they had overrun. SYRIA Mi li ta nt g ro up s ai d to b e us in g ch lor in e bo mbs , fig ht er j et s in ci vi l co nfl ic t By Jennifer Peltz The Associated Press OTTAWA, ONTARIO Au- thorities and ordinary Ca- nadians sifted through confounding shards of a gunman's life seeking to understand what motivated the man to storm the na- tion's seat of power. The emerging portrait of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau is a fragmented one: A mis- fit who went more than five years without seeing his mother. A crack co- caine user who once told a psychological evaluator he wanted to go to jail to beat his addiction. A com- mitted Muslim who said he wanted to become a better man, but in recent weeks seemed to come unglued. A homeless shelter resident who talked about wanting to go to Libya — or Syria — and became upset when he couldn't get a passport. A day after the 32-year- old Canadian launched what the prime minister called a terrorist attack, a top police official said Thursday that Zehaf-Bibeau — whose father was from Libya — may have lashed out in frustration over de- lays in getting his passport. "I think it was central to what was driving him," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson on Thursday. Bibeau shot a soldier to death at Canada's national war memorial Wednesday, then stormed the Parlia- ment building, where he was gunned down by the sergeant-at-arms. Police said he was armed with a lever-action Winchester ri- fle, an old-fashioned, rela- tively slow-firing weapon. On Friday, officials said the body of the dead sol- dier Cpl. Nathan Cirillo will be returned to his hometown in a motorcade driven along a stretch road known as the "Highway of Heroes." The road gained its name because all the Ca- nadian soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war were driven down it on their way from a military base to the morgue. The deadly attack was the second on Canadian sol- diers in three days, forcing the country to confront the danger of radicalized citi- zens in its midst and expos- ing weak spots in security: • During the attack, Prime Minister Stephen Harper hid in a closet-like space within a Parliament caucus room. The Mounties who are assigned to protect him were on the other side of the room's doors. The Mounties will now guard the prime minister around the clock, wherever he goes, Paulson said. • After the tragedy, all members of the Canadian military were ordered to avoid wearing their uni- forms in public while doing such things as shopping or eating at restaurants. • Earlier this week, the Mounties said about 90 people nationwide are sus- pected of planning to join up with extremist fight- ers abroad or have re- turned from such activity. But Paulson said Thursday that Zehaf-Bibeau was not on that list and was not un- der surveillance, partly be- cause it was not until af- ter the shooting that au- thorities learned from his mother that he wanted to go Syria, where a host of militant groups such as Is- lamic State are fighting. • Authorities are inves- tigating how the gunman obtained the rifle, when he should been prohibited from possessing one be- cause of his criminal record. Zehaf-Bibeau's passport, meanwhile, hadn't been re- voked or his application re- jected, but authorities had been investigating whether to grant him one, Paul- son said. That obstacle ap- peared to weigh heavily on Zehalf-Bibeau, a petty crim- inal with a long rap sheet, including drug and weap- ons offenses, assault and robbery. Abubakir Abdelkareem, who often visited the Ot- tawa Mission, a homeless shelter downtown where Zehaf-Bibeau stayed in re- cent weeks, said Zehaf-Bi- beau told him he had had a drug problem but had been clean for three months and was trying to steer clear of temptation by going to Libya. But in the three days before the rampage, "his personality changed com- pletely," Abdelkareem said. He stopped being talkative and sociable and slept dur- ing the day, said Abdelka- reem, who concluded Zehaf- Bibeau was back on drugs. Lloyd Maxwell, a shelter resident, said that Zehaf-Bi- beau had come to Ottawa specifically to try to get a passport, believing that would be more easily ac- complished in the nation's capital. OTTAWA Canadians seek to understand Parliament shooting JUSTINTAN—THECANADIANPRESS People leave flowers as sentries guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Friday. N EWS D AILY REDBLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 PHONE: (530)527-2151 FAX: (530) 527-5774 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 527-2151 Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! 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