Submitted by ssaliba on
[11 September 2015] There is a growing belief that the Syrian regime and the Islamic State militant group are making and using crude chemical weapons.
The US has identified at least four occasions on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border where IS has used mustard agents, the official said. The official said the chemical was being used in powder form. A BBC team on the Turkey-Syria border has seen evidence backing these claims. The US believes the group has a cell dedicated to building these weapons. "They're using mustard," the individual said of IS. "We know they are." The mustard agent was probably being used in powder form and packed into traditional explosives like mortar rounds, the official said. "We've seen them use it on at least four separate occasions on both sides of the border - both Iraq and Syria." When these weapons explode the mustard-laced dust blisters those who are exposed to it.
In recent days, the BBC's Ian Pannell, working from the Turkey-Syria border, has seen new evidence of chemical attacks being carried out in Syria - potentially by the regime and rebels. Syria is supposed to be free of chemical weapons after a UN-backed deal that saw the Syrian government hand over 1,180 tonnes of declared toxic agents and precursor chemicals to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). That process began in October 2013, and was completed by June of the following year.
Last month the UN voted to set up an investigation to find out which individuals, groups or governments are involved in the use of chemicals as weapons in Syria. The Syrian government has been repeatedly accused of perpetrating many of these attacks, something it vehemently denies. But when Sarmin was attacked, witnesses say they heard a helicopter overhead and only government forces have helicopters in Syria. Then people say they heard a roaring sound, like thunder but there was no explosion, just casualties.
There have been growing allegations that chemicals, in particular chlorine gas, have been used, mostly against civilian populations in dozens of attacks. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) looked at three of these alleged attacks and reported to the UN they have "a high degree of confidence that chlorine has been used repeatedly and systematically as a weapon" in Syria.
More than 200,000 people have died since the Syrian civil war began following anti-government protests in early 2011, but only a tiny percentage are believed to have died as a result of chemical weapons. Last month, the UN launched an investigation to determine which individuals, groups or governments are involved in the use of chemicals as weapons in Syria. And that same month, the US military said tests on IS mortar fragments from fighting in Iraq showed traces of chemical arms.
US Brig Gen Kevin Killea said in late August that the US had found traces of the chemical agent sulphur mustard on mortars used by IS to attack Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. At the time, however, he also said that the tests were not conclusive and final testing was needed. He described sulphur mustard as a Class 1 chemical agent, one that is rarely used outside of chemical warfare.