Ukraine kills Russian chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov in Moscow
Moscow. Ukraine Reuters A top Russian general accused by Ukraine of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops was assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service on Tuesday morning in the most high-profile killing of its kind. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical […]
Assad’s fall: Iron-fisted ruler never quelled the Syrian rebels who came back to topple him
TOM PERRY, of Reuters, reports on the rise and fall of now deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad…
Russia breached global chemical weapons ban in Ukraine war, US says
Washington DC, US Reuters The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of violating the international chemical weapons ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and using riot control agents “as a method of warfare” in Ukraine. “The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian […]
Chemical weapons watchdog blames Islamic State for 2015 Syria attack
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Reuters The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Thursday identified Islamic State militants in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as the likely perpetrator of a chemical weapons attack in Marea, Syria, on 1st September, 2015. There were “reasonable grounds to believe that on 1 September 2015, during sustained attacks aimed at capturing […]
Syrians lead push to create global chemical weapons tribunal
The Hague, The Netherlands/Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Illegal chemical weapons attacks killed and injured thousands during Syria’s civil war, many of them children, but more than a decade later, the perpetrators go unpunished. That could change under an initiative to create a new tribunal for such atrocities launched in The Hague on Thursday. Safaa Kamel, 35, […]
Essay: Conflict pollution, washed-up landmines and military emissions – here’s how war trashes the environment
In an article first published on The Conversation, STACEY PIZZINO, JO DURHAM and MICHAEL WALLER, of The University of Queensland in Australia, look at the environmental costs of war…
Syria denies OPCW’s findings on chemical weapon attack in 2018
Reuters Syria’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that a report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that found the Syrian Government was responsible for a chemical weapon attack on the rebel-held Syrian city of Douma in 2018 lacked any evidence, and denied the allegations. The global chemical weapons watchdog said on Friday […]
“Life was completely erased”: Syria gas attack victims, awaiting justice, say impunity fuels war crimes
KHALIL ASHAWI and TOM PERRY, of Reuters, report on the long wait for justice for Syrians whose families were killed in poison gas attacks during the country’s long-running war…
WHO says making contingency plans for possible “chemical assaults” in Ukraine
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The World Health Organization’s European head said on Thursday that the body was preparing for possible “chemical assaults” in Ukraine, in a sign it is taking warnings that have emerged from both the West and Moscow seriously. “Given the uncertainties of the current situation, there are no assurances that the war will […]
Biden says Putin is weighing use of chemical weapons in Ukraine
Washington DC, US Reuters Russia’s false accusations that Kyiv has biological and chemical weapons illustrate that Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering using them himself in his war against Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said on Monday, without citing evidence. Putin’s “back is against the wall and now he’s talking about new false flags he’s […]