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UN probe: Syrian regime dropped sarin gas on Khan Sheikhoun

September 6, 2017 at 9:09 pm

Men, members of Syrian civil defense organisation, White Helmets release a white pigeon for people who lost their life in a chemical attack in Damascus, Syria on 22 August, 2017 [Amer Almohibany/Anadolu Agency]

The Syrian regime used chemical weapons in more than 20 attacks, including the deadly attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib on 4 April, UN war crimes investigators said today.

The report said “government forces continued the pattern of using chemical weapons against civilians in opposition-held areas. In the gravest incident, the Syrian air force used sarin in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, killing dozens, the majority of whom were women and children,” describing the attack as a “war crime”.

The investigators said they had documented a total of 33 chemical attacks so far, pointing out that the government forces carried out 27, seven of them between 1 March and 7 July.

A confidential UN report published at the end of June confirmed that sarin gas had been used in the attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

Read: Report: 32 people killed under torture in Syria in August

Experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a confidential report that government forces dropped sarin gas on the town of Khan Sheikhoun near Idlib killing 87 people, including 31 children, a charge denied by the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia.

“A large number of people, including people who died, were exposed to sarin or a sarin product,” the experts said in their report.

At the time, the fact- finding mission’s report was considered the basis for a joint UN/OPCW investigation committee to determine whether the Syrian regime forces were responsible for the chemical bombing.