An investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) , the world’s chemical weapons watchdog, has confirmed the use of sarin in the April 4, 2017 attack on the Syrian town Khan Sheikhoun.
The attack on the town in the country’s Idlib Province was the most deadly in Syria's civil war in more than three years. It prompted a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base which, Washington said, was used to launch the strike.
After interviewing witnesses and examining samples, a fact-finding mission (FFM) of the OPCW concluded that “a large number of people, some of whom died, were exposed to sarin or a sarin-like substance.
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A summary of the report circulated among members said, “It is the conclusion of the FFM that such a release can only be determined as the use of sarin, as a chemical weapon.”
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said in a statement on June 29, “Now that we know the undeniable truth, we look forward to an independent investigation to confirm exactly who was responsible for these brutal attacks so we can find justice for the victims.”
A joint United Nations and OPCW investigation, known as the JIM, can now look at the incident to determine who is to blame, she said.
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The JIM has found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas.
Western intelligence agencies had blamed the government of Bashar al-Assad for the April chemical attack. Syrian officials have repeatedly denied using banned toxins in the conflict.
The mission was unable to visit the site itself due to security concerns and will not attempt to get there, the head of the OPCW was said to have decided.
Syria joined the chemicals weapons convention in 2013 under a Russian-U.S. agreement, averting military intervention under then U.S. President Barack Obama.
The United States said on June 28, 2017, the Syrian government appeared to have heeded a warning this week from Washington not to carry out a chemical weapons attack.
Russia, the Syrian government's main backer in the civil war, warned it would respond proportionately if the U.S. took pre-emptive measures against Syrian forces after Washington said it appeared the Syrian military was preparing to conduct a chemical weapons attack.