MatthewBrosseau/iStock/Thinkstock(DAMASCUS, Syria) — The National Security Council says it is concerned with reports of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons released three reports last week regarding alleged chemical weapon use in Syria. In a statement on Friday, an NSC spokesperson said that the council “continue[s] to carefully review the reports, but are very concerned with their initial findings.” One of those reports reportedly confirmed one or more toxic chemical, “probably containing chlorine,” was used in Syria.
The area in which the confirmed chemical weapons were released is an area controlled by the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Witnesses in the area reported hearing helicopters overhead when the chemical munitions exploded.
A second report from the OPCW determined “with utmost confidence,” the NSC says, that mustard gas was used in opposition-controlled territory near the Syria-Turkey border.
“If it is determined that a non-state actor such as [ISIS] was also using chemical weapons, such use would be consistent with [ISIS’s] record of complete disregard for human rights and international norms and values,” the NSC statement said.
Last year, the Assad regime agreed to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. This would be the first such confirmed use of chemical weapons since that agreement.
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