Global chemical weapons experts in Turkey to investigate Assad’s attack

A team of chemical weapons experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have been sent to Turkey to collect samples as part of an investigation into the chemical attack in Syria last week.

The sarin gas attack hit the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the opposition-held Idlib province on 4 April, killing 87 people, many of them children.

The results of the samples “have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, or a sarin-like substance,” confirmed the UK delegation to the OPCW, meaning that it had been used for the first time on such a large scale in Syria.

Read more: US-Russia relations at another low after Syria attacks

The investigation – of which the full findings are expected to be published in a few weeks – determines whether chemical weapons were actually used, at which point the United Nations will investigate the individuals or groups responsible for the attack.

Though it has not yet been confirmed who is responsible for the attack, the main suspect is the Syrian government, which has repeatedly denied the accusation. Russian officials blame opposition groups, claiming a missile hit a poisonous gas storage depot held by them. This has been denied by opposition groups and the US said this was not a credible claim.

As a result of the attack and its atrocities, the US launched a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base and has consequently increased tensions with Russia and Iran.