CNN's Arwa Damon reported Tuesday from Iraq on the "terrifying" booby traps left behind by the Islamic State, such as a massive sulfur fire.
As ISIS retreats from parts of northern Iraq near Mosul, the country's second largest city, the terrorists are leaving behind a path of death and destruction. ISIS fighters blew up a sulfur factory in Mishraq, Iraq, as they retreated from advancing Iraqi troops. Mishraq is near Mosul, where U.S.-led coalition troops are moving to retake the terrorist group's last major stronghold in Iraq.
In the wake of the factory's destruction, mountains of raw sulfur continue to burn, leaving a devastating environmental and health situation. Damon reported that local hospitals have run out of oxygen with so many people going to them for aid. The only way to be near the flames is by wearing a gas mask and not allowing one's eyes to be exposed to the toxic air. Blue flames burn on the ground from the sulfur as bulldozers have attempted to dose the flames by dumping dirt on them.
Speaking through a gas mask, Damon pointed to yellow sulfur mountains still smoldering and releasing the dangerous smoke.
"This is just one of the many ways that ISIS is trying to use whatever it possibly can to try to not only impede the advance of the security forces towards Mosul but also in doing so cause maximum damage and maximum impact on the civilian population," Damon said.
Damon said it was "terrifying" to imagine what ISIS may do in Mosul itself.