UN Unable to Confirm Mustard Gas Attacks by Daesh in Iraq, Syria in 2016
16:08 06.04.2016(updated 16:28 06.04.2016)
The United Nations cannot yet confirm any cases of the use of mustard gas by the Daesh terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria in 2016, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Tuesday, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, Mikhail Ulyanov, said Daesh jihadists had used sulfur mustard gas, a chemical warfare agent, at least three times in Syria and Iraq since the beginning of the year.
"We don't have confirmation of the use of mustard gas by Daesh at this time," Haq said.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow proposed to develop an international convention for the suppression of acts of chemical terrorism, explaining that the new instrument would transcend the issues of non-proliferation, disarmament and counter-terrorism.
In March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, that Moscow had called for a separate convention to cover the issue of chemical terrorism as existing international law does not fully cover the issue.
Daesh is a terrorist group that has taken control of large portions of Iraq and Syria and is outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other countries.
© Sputnik
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