U.N.: Syrian army was behind April gas attack and Russia made it worse

Geneva — U.N. rights investigators have concluded that Syria’s air force carried out a deadly nerve gas attack in April that drew international condemnation, while Russian strikes helped to destroy hospitals that could have treated victims.

In addition to the sarin gas attack — which killed more than 80 people in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4 — Syrian government forces repeatedly used chlorine gas between March and July, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria reported Wednesday.

The findings, presented in Geneva, go further than those from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is based in The Hague. That group confirmed in June that sarin was used in Khan Sheikhoun, but did not identify the attacker.

The Commission of Inquiry said in its report that it collected evidence from dozens of victims, witnesses and emergency workers, as well as from photos and satellite images.

The rights investigators also ruled out an explanation by Syria’s ally, Russia, which has suggested that sarin could have been released when an airstrike hit an arms depot.

The commission said such a strike would have destroyed most of the nerve gas inside the building, rather than releasing it widely.

“In view of the above, the commission finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian forces attacked (Khan Sheikhoun) with a sarin bomb at approximately 6:45 am on 4 April,” the report read, noting that this use of chemical weapons was a war crime.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry disputed the charges, calling them propaganda.

“You can view this document as amateurish and propaganda-like in nature, but in no way could you view it as professional and objective,” said Mikhail Ulyanov, director of arms control at the ministry, late on Wednesday.

He questioned how useful the report could be, since investigators never went to the site, instead relying on witness testimony.

“The likelihood that the incident was staged, which is indicated by a lot of evidence, was completely ignored by the authors,” he told the Interfax news agency.