UNITED NATIONS Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and Islamic State militants used sulfur mustard gas, a joint investigation by the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog found on Wednesday, according to a confidential report seen by Reuters.
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According to the report, obtained by The Associated Press, the JIM found the Syrian government responsible for two chlorine attacks in Idlib governorate, one in Talmenes on April 21, 2014 and one in Sarmin on March 16, 2015.
She accused the Syrian government of violating a council resolution banning the use of chemical weapons and its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which the OPCW monitors.
It also said the Islamic State group was “the only entity with the ability, capability, motive and the means to use sulfur mustard” gas in Marea in Aleppo governorate near the Turkish border on August 21, 2015.
After a scathing United Nations investigation, the White House said Wednesday it was “impossible to deny” that Syria had launched chemical weapon attacks, while calling for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to be held accountable. Russia, a close ally of Syria, has blocked sanctions and other council action against President Bashar Assad’s government – but Moscow did support the establishment of the JIM to assess accountability.
The 24-member team said there was insufficient information to reach a conclusion in three other cases and recommended that there be no further investigation of those suspected attacks.
A U.N. -authorized investigation has determined that both the Assad regime and the Islamic State used chemical weapons in Syria in recent years, the first time that the United Nations has officially assigned blame for the use of outlawed weapons in Syria’s five-and-a-half year conflict.
“It is now impossible to deny that the Syrian regime has repeatedly used industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people”, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “This council must stand ready to demonstrate a robust response to this report”.
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With regard to the Islamic State’s use of chemical weapons, Mr. Price said the USA -led coalition continues “to remove leaders from the battlefield with knowledge of these weapons, and will target any related materials and attempts to manufacture such chemicals going forward”. Barrel bombs are steel drums full of shrapnel and explosives dropped from the air. The three other cases it investigated were inconclusive. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns to hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can kill by burning lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids. “We urge all United Nations member states and parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, including Russian Federation and Iran, to participate in this effort”.
