Russia Surprised by West’s Inaction on Use of Chemicals in Mosul

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

“A series of instances of chemical weapon use against the civilian population by ISIS 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 OPCW,” Russian Defence 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.

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,” Sputnik quoted Konashenkov as saying..

He pointed out that with respect to alleged chemical weapon use by Damascus in Syria, the OPCW trusts unsupported claims by activists on social media.

“Isn’t it time for OPCW to review these methods?” he said, according to a report by IFP News.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was profoundly concerned about the use of chemical weapons in Mosul. “We have been monitoring the situation since March 2013.

In light of this, of considerable interest are the assessments by Western experts who stated that after Mosul’s seizure by the ISIS has considerably expanded its capabilities to make poisonous substances,” she said.