Weapons watchdog blames Syrian gov’t for Douma chlorine attack

The Hague, Jan 27 (EFE).- The Syrian government’s air force was responsible for a chemical weapons attack that killed at least 43 people in the city of Douma on April 7, 2018, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Friday.

The OPCW’s investigations team said there was a “large volume and wide range of evidence” to conclude that at least one Syrian helicopter dropped “two yellow cylinders containing toxic chlorine gas on two apartment buildings.”

“The OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT)’s third report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Arab Air Forces were the perpetrators of the chemical weapons attack on 7 April 2018 in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic.”

The OPCW’s director general Fernando Arias said in a statement: “The use of chemical weapons in Douma – and anywhere – is unacceptable and a breach of international law.

“The world now knows the facts – it is up to the international community to take action, at the OPCW and beyond.”

The organization’s investigation team assessed 70 environmental and biomedical samples, 66 witness statements and verified data from forensics, satellite images and simulations to draw its conclusions.

Syria’s president Bashar Al Assad has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons in the country’s ongoing civil war.

The chemical attack on Douma came during a time when the city, located near the capital Damascus, remained in the hands of Syrian opposition forces.EFE

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