N Korea shipments to Syria chemical arms agency intercepted: UN
but it is not over yet and it is not going to be over anytime soon,” Mattis told reporters in Amman. He said that after retaking Tal Afar, Iraqi forces would move against the western Euphrates river valley. He added that Iraqi security forces were capable of carrying out simultaneous operations.
Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the coalition against IS, told reporters that while the battle for Tal Afar would be difficult, Iraqi forces had retaken 235 sq km in the first 24 hours.
Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian agency responsible for the country’s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations.
The report by a panel of independent UN experts, submitted to the group’s security council earlier this month, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained.
“The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea),” the experts wrote. “Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another member state said that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.”
KOMID is the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, described as Pyongyang’s key arms dealer.
Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the US. However, many suspect Syria may have maintained or developed a new chemical weapons capability. REUTERS