Syria urges OPCW probe chemical attacks by terrorists

Syria has called for an investigation by the Hague-based agency responsible for eliminating chemical weapons into the use of chemical agents by terrorists against civilians in the country’s battered city of Aleppo.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates made the request on Tuesday in two identical letters sent to the United Nations Secretary General and the head of the UN Security Council.

In the letters, the ministry condemned the crimes committed by terrorist groups such as Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, using toxic materials such as chlorine gas in several Aleppo areas and demanded that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) send experts to the city to probe the atrocities.

The ministry further accused Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey of providing the militants with the banned arms.

The UN and the OPCW pay no attention to the cases in which the extremists use chemical weapons against the Syrian people, but they act differently when it comes to baseless allegations accusing the Syrian government of such incidents, the letters read.

On November 13, terrorists in eastern Aleppo fired mortar shells containing chlorine gas on Aleppo’s al-Nairab area, injuring civilians and causing cases of asphyxiation among 30 military personnel, according to the letters.

Terrorists also targeted Aleppo’s residential neighborhoods with poisonous gas more than once, among them al-Hamadaniye and al-Assad on October 31 and Manian on November 3, the letters added.

All those injured in the chemical attacks were taken to hospital, where doctors said that the victims inhaled toxic materials such as chlorine gas, the Syrian ministry said, adding that Russian authorities have also verified the use of chemical agents.

Moreover, the ministry urged the OPCW not to politicize the issue as hiding or falsifying facts under threats will not protect humanity from the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Syria has been gripped by deadly foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Over the past few months, terrorists have suffered major setbacks as the Syrian army has managed to liberate several areas.

Backed by Russian air cover, the Syrian military is engaged in an operation to rid the country of all terrorist groups.

Daesh awards elements using chemical weapons

Separately on Tuesday, the Kurdish media network Rudaw reported that the Peshmerga forces had found documents near the Daesh held-city of Mosul in Iraq showing that the terror outfit awards those elements using chemical weapons with a prize.

According to the report, Daesh gives the extremists, who use rockets and mortars containing mustard and chlorine gas in the battlefield, 10 Syrian dirhams equal to $5.

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