The Islamic State & chemical weapons

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) suspects that Islamic State is making its own chemical weapons. Agence France Presse carried comments by OPCW chief Ahmet Uzumcu saying his organization doesn't have conclusive proof but it nonetheless believes that the jihadist organization may have used sulphur mustard that it developed on its own. The Islamic State has been accused of carrying out chemical weapons attacks in both Syria and Iraq. The Assad regime has accused the group of using chemical weapons against Syrian Arab Army troops in Deir Ezzor as recently as April.

Syria
Syrian government forces and their allies clashed with insurgents near Aleppo on Monday and warplanes launched more raids around a strategic town Islamist rebels seized last week, a monitoring group said. - Reuters
 
Turkish artillery has fired at the Islamic State group across the border in Syria, killing 55 militants and destroying three rocket launchers and three vehicles, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday. – Associated Press
 
More than a dozen members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were killed this week during an attack by militants in northern Syria in what shows Tehran's deep involvement in the Syrian civil war. – Associated Press

After months of unexpectedly swift advances, the U.S.-led war against the Islamic State is running into hurdles on and off the battlefield that call into question whether the pace of recent gains can be sustained. – Washington Post
 
As the military and political battle against the Islamic State escalates, Muslim imams and scholars in the West are fighting on another front — through theology. – New York Times