Russian points to lack of OPCW response to chemical weapon use in Iraq

The Russian Defense Ministry is surprised by a lack of a proper response on the part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the use of chemical weapons in Iraq’s Mosul by Daesh terrorist group, a ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

"A series of instances of chemical weapon use against the civilian population by Daesh militants registered last week in the city of Mosul was left unnoticed by the Western public. But what’s even more surprising is the ‘lukewarm’ attitude towards these facts on the part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

He pointed out that OPCW did not attempt to send its experts to investigate the chemical weapon attacks and did not issue any official statements condemning the chemical weapon use, according to Russia Today.

The OPCW analysis of soil samples from the locations of chemical weapon use by terrorists in Aleppo is too "prolonged" and apart from multiple requests to Russian specialists, "there have still been no results," Konashenkov said.

Source: MENA