OPCW Condemns Chemical Weapon Use

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has condemned any use of chemical weapons, referring specifically to the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission findings, which suggest that chlorine had been used as a weapon in three villages in northern Syria from April to August, 2014.

"This decision makes it absolutely clear that chemical weapons are illegal, and that their use will not be tolerated under any circumstances," OPCW Director-General Üzümcü said in a statement published on the OPCW website on Wednesday.

The statement emphasized that any use of chemical weapons "anywhere at any time by anyone under any circumstances in unacceptable" and violates international law.

On Tuesday, OPCW confirmed that Syria had destroyed the first of 12 chemical weapon production facilities in the country.

Syria joined the OPCW after a sarin gas attack near Damascus killed over 1,000 people in August 2013. The Syrian government and rebel forces have traded blame for the attack, following which chemical weapons material started to be removed from the country.

According to OPCW, 98 percent of Syrian chemical weapons have been eliminated. Twenty nine metric tons of hydrogen fluoride taken out of Syria are yet to be destroyed at British and US holding facilities.

Syria is now dismantling underground bunkers, tunnels and hangars where chemical agents and precursor materials were produced and stored.