An international team has blamed the Syrian government and Daesh militants, also known as ISIS or ISIL, for chemical attacks in the conflict-wracked nation during 2014 and 2015, a French diplomat said Wednesday. France’s UN Ambassador Alexis Lamek said the UN Security Council must take action against the perpetrators based on the final report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism. “It states clearly that the Syrian regime and Daesh have perpetrated chemical attacks in Syria, and in the case of the regime several cases are identified,” Lamek said. “When it comes to proliferation, use of chemical weapons, such weapons of mass destruction, we cannot afford being weak and the council will have to act,” he told reporters. The joint body, known as the JIM, was set up by the Security Council last year and was investigating nine cases of alleged chemical use.

Source: thestar August 24, 2016 21:56 UTC