Govt plane ‘dropped sarin bomb’
UNITED NATIONS: Experts from the UN and the chemical weapons watchdog are blaming Syria’s government for a sarin nerve gas attack that killed more than 90 people last April.
Their report, obtained on Thursday by The Associated Press, says leaders of the expert body are “confident that the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, 2017”.
The report supports the initial findings by the United States, France and Britain that a Syrian military plane dropped a bomb with sarin on the town.
Syria and Russia, its close ally, have denied any attack and have strongly criticized the Joint Investigative Mechanism, known as the JIM, which was established by the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to determine responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
The attack in Khan Sheikhoun sparked outrage around the world as photos and video of the aftermath, including quivering children dying on camera, were widely broadcast.
The United States blamed the Syrian military and launched a punitive strike days later on the Shayrat air base, where it said the attack was launched.
Responding to the report, US ambassador Nikki Haley said: “Today’s report confirms what we have long known to be true.
“Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.”
Clearly referring to Russia, she said: “In spite of these independent reports, we still see some countries trying to protect the regime. That must end now.”
The Security Council should make it clear that “the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated”, Ms Haley said.
A fact-finding mission by the OPCW
reported on June 30 that sarin was used in the Khan Sheikhoun attack and “sulfur mustard” in Um Hosh. But the JIM experts had the task of determining who conducted the attacks.
The JIM experts said on Thursday they are “confident” the Islamic State extremist group was responsible for an attack in Aleppo on Sept 15-16, 2016, that used “sulfur mustard”, the chemical weapon commonly known as mustard gas.