WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has not independently confirmed reports of alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes stated on Thursday.
“We have not, we have not,” Rhodes said when asked by a reporter if the White House had any update and independent verification on use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Syria joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and agreed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal after a Sarin gas attack near Damascus in August 2013 killed more than 1,000 people. The Syrian government and rebel forces have traded blame for the attack.
At the end of October 2014, the OPCW reported that nearly 98 percent of the chemical weapons removed from Syria had been destroyed.
