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Increasing reports of chemical weapons use in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State group are prompting concern at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and elsewhere amid conflicting assessments of what the agent in question might have been.
In an Aug. 17 press release, the OPCW cited reports of chemical weapons use by "non-State actors" in Iraq and called the reports "a matter of serious concern." The OPCW said it had been in contact with the Iraqi government and "would examine any substantive reports it receives including pertinent information that might be shared" by other states-parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The OPCW statement came several days after unnamed U.S. officials were quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying that Islamic State militants appeared to have used chemical munitions, possibly mustard agent, on Kurdish fighters in Iraq in early August. Other media reports cited German officials as saying there were indications that the militant group had used...