Use of Chlorine by Syrian Militants Disproves Damascus's Involvement

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The use of chlorine in Syria's Aleppo by the Jaysh al-Islam group, as well as the use of other chemical weapons by other radical groups in 2016 in both Syria and Iraq, proves that Damascus is not involved in these types of attacks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

"Actually, militants from various radical groups only in 2016 used toxic substances several times as chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq. Now the Jaysh al-Islam group has used chlorine in Aleppo, and it seems they aren't even hiding this. Obviously we strongly condemn the use of chemical substances for military purposes whoever it is, including non-government subjects," Zakharova said.

She said that the use of chemical weapons by radical groups proves that Damascus is not involved in such attacks, as the West has accused.

"The use of chlorine by Jaysh al-Islam militants in Aleppo once again confirms what we've said numerous times that the blaming of Damascus and publications in the Western media of cases of using chlorine for military purposes, including against civilians, is actually the work of terrorist groups," Zakharova said.

However, the West does not react to the use of chemical weapons in Syria through the UN Security Council.

“Russia has long expressed its concern that the Islamic State and other terrorist groups have acquired great potential in war activities with the use of toxic substances in the region of the Middle East. We regularly bring attention to this and put the question forward on the need for the UN Security Council to react to cases of chemical attacks by terrorists, in particular through amendments in the anti-terrorist goals mandate of the Joint Mechanism of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the investigations of incidents using chemical weapons in Syria that was specially created in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2235,” Zakharova told RIA Novosti.

She said that Moscow is met with resistance by Western nations that “obviously don’t want to attract attention to this mechanism against Damascus’s alleged guilt in such instances by the official Syrian authorities.”