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Russia: Islamist rebels using chemical weapons
November 11, 2016, 10:30 am

Entire cities have been destroyed by five years of intense warfare in Syria [Xinhua]

Entire cities have been destroyed by five years of intense warfare in Syria [Xinhua]


Russian Defense Ministery Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov has told the media that his country’s armed forces have unearthed proof that Islamist rebels in Syria have used chemical weapons against soldiers and civilians alike in southwestern Aleppo.

“While conducting reconnaissance in the ‘1070’ area [south-western suburbs of Aleppo], the officers of the scientific center of the Russian Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence (RChBD) have found evidence of chemical weapon use by terrorists against the civilian population and Syrian servicemen,” he said in a statement.

The ammunition was tested in a mobile laboratory and there is a very high probability that chlorine and white phosphorus.

However, the samples will be further analyzed at the Scientific Center of the Russian Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, licensed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Konashenkov said.

Two weeks ago, the Syrian government in Damascus said that chemical weapons were used in an attack on a government-held area of Aleppo. More than a dozen people were treated for respiratory illness at the time, the government said.