Russian officials urged more study on the matter, but did say they found it “very important” that the report finally admitted that ISIS had used mustard gas in an attack, because usually Western officials have been trying to blame the Syrian government for all those incidents.
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The year-long United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inquiry, authorized by the Security Council, said Syrian Arab Air Force helicopters dropped toxic substances in Talmenes on April 21, 2014, and Sarmin on March 16, 2015.
The panel was able to identify the perpetrators of three chemical attacks carried out in 2014 and 2015, but was unable to draw conclusions in the other six cases that it has been investigating over the past year. That vote could pit the five vetoed armed members against each other – Russia, a close Syrian ally, and China against the U.S., Britain and France.
Next, the 15-member United Nations Security Council will convene to discuss the report on August 30th. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the report would be made public after that meeting.
The Syrian regime was found to be behind the attacks on Talmenes on April 21, 2014 and Sarmin on March 16, 2015. Both cases involved the use of chlorine.
The OPCW-UN report also confirmed that in August 2015, ISIL used mustard gas against civilians in Syria.
“This UN report confirms for the first time what we have long believed: the Assad regime has been responsible for the use of chemical weapons in at least two attacks in Syria”.
“Without accountability, the cycle of abuses in Syria by all parties to the conflict – whether by chemical or conventional weapons – will continue unabated”, he said.
‘The United States will work with our global partners to seek accountability through appropriate diplomatic mechanisms.
Chapter 7 deals with sanctions and authorization of military force by the Security Council.
When asked by reporters whether the Obama administration had done enough to address Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians, White House spokesman Josh Earnest pushed back, citing the USA intervention in Iraq in 2003. Barrel bombs are steel drums full of shrapnel and explosives dropped from the air.
In August 2012, Obama had described the use of such weapons as constituting a “red line” that, if crossed, would force the USA to consider intervening.
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Inspectors working in Syria have detected the presence of previously undeclared chemical warfare agents, suggesting President Bashar al-Assad hasn’t given up his capabilities to wield such weapons and casting a shadow over an achievement claimed by the Obama administration. 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.
