Contents tagged with Chemical weapons

  • OPCW confirms use of chemical weapons in Syria in March 2017

    The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced that during the attack on northern Syria in March 2017, chemical weapons were used.

    The OPCW was referring to the attacks that occurred on March 24, 2017 to the south of the city of El-Latamina in the north of the Arab Republic and on March 25 on the hospital that is in the city as well as the surrounding territories. Experts found that sarin was used during the first attack, and chlorine was used during the second. The …

  • Chemical weapons watchdog: Chlorine used in attack on Syrian town of Saraqeb in February

    The mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded that on February 4 chemical weapons, probably chlorine, were used near ​​the city of Saraqeb in the Syrian province of Idlib.

    The OPCW report, released on May 16, states that “chlorine was released from cylinders by mechanical impact in the Al-Talil neighbourhood of Saraqeb."

    The experts studied two cylinders, which used to contain the chemicals, and also analyzed the samples taken in the area of ​​the …

  • France: Russia neglects its obligations to UN

    France accused Russia of neglecting its obligations to the UN, both in 2013 with respect to its guarantee to destroy all chemical weapons in Syria, and now, by attempting to accuse the US, France and Britain of violating the UN Charter.

    A statement to this effect was made by François Delattre, France’s Permanent Representative to the UN, during an extraordinary UN session, Ukrinform reports.

    “The Security Council was unable to meet its obligations due to the systematic vetoes used by Russia. …

  • US did not warn Russia about attack on Syria

    Voice of America reports that Russia was not warned about target strikes in Syria, despite the fact that the US military used conventional channels to avoid escalation.

    The US Military Command utilized its so-called "deconfliction" communication line with Russia on Friday, the day prior to the launch of its operation against Syria. However, the US Command did not disclose which objects would be targeted by the coalition forces.

    "We specifically identified these targets to mitigate the risk of …

  • Germany and Italy will not take part in military operation in Syria

    Germany does not intend to be involved in military action in Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced, as reported by Die Welt.

    Merkel also said that Berlin will nevertheless do all it can to demonstrate that the use of chemical weapons is inadmissible.

    The day before, head of Germany’s “Greens” party Jürgen Trittin urged the German government to oppose the United States’ military response to the chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta. This idea also received support by other Bundestag …

  • France may attack Syria from its territory

    France will launch missiles at Syria from its own territory if the decision is made to strike, Le Figaro reports.

    According to the newspaper, such advice was given to the President of the Fifth Republic Emmanuel Macron by the country’s military leaders, who are sure that a strike from French bases in Jordan or the United Arab Emirates would spoil relations with these countries. According to the military, the authorities of these countries do not want to be involved in such “visible” actions …

  • Russia accuses Britain of developing chemical weapons

    The Russian Embassy in London has released a statement alleging that the head of a the laboratory of the British Ministry of Defense  in Porton Down “confirmed the development of poisonous substances”, including the one that was used to poison Sergei Skripal, Russia’s Interfax news agency reports .

    According to a Russian Embassy spokesperson, ​​the statements by Gary Aitkenhead, the Chief Executive of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down who spoke about the laboratory’s …

  • Macron threatens to strike Syria if chemical weapons are used

    France will strike Syria if the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population is confirmed, stated French President Emmanuel Macron, Deutsche Welle reports.

    Macron clarified that in such a case, the strike will be directed against the locations where the chemical weapons are created or stored. He added that France does not currently possess adequate evidence that such weapons have been used in Syria.

    The Syrian government is suspected of carrying out a chemical attack in the city of …

  • Russia accuses US of starting information war against Assad

    Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that an information and propaganda campaign has begun against Syria accusing Assad's government of allegedly using chemical weaponry against civilians.

    “As we warned several days ago, an information and propaganda campaign regarding ‘Damascus using chemical weaponry’ has begun… There will be more and more of that kind of newsreel, they will be different in the quality of execution – both low grade and at a Hollywood …

  • Netanyahu: Dozens of tons of chemical weapons remain in Syria

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that dozens of tons of chemical weapons remain in Syria. He discussed this in an interview with Channel 9.

    "Syria still has chemical weapons; albeit a small percentage of its former arsenal, but it's still tens of tons," Netanyahu said.

    According to Netanyahu, the world community committed to eliminate chemical weapons on Syrian territory, but this did not happen. He added that "this must be done."

    The Israeli prime minister noted that "if …