A UN chemical weapons watchdog is examining allegations of eight toxic gas attacks in Syria since January this year, according to a report released today.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is tasked with investigating allegations of such attacks in Syria after the Assad government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013.
In a report to the Security Council, OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said: “Eight incidents of alleged use of chemical weapons have been recorded since the beginning of 2017 and are currently being analyzed.” Uzumcu did not specify where the latest attacks allegedly occurred.
Fact-finding missions are already investigating incidents in eastern Aleppo city, western Rif Aleppo, South Homs and North Hama, Rural Damascus, and Idlib, according to the report sent to the council on Monday.
Witnesses have been interviewed and the OPCW teams continue to gather evidence in those cases.
In a report released last month, Human Rights Watch confirmed that regime forces carried out at least eight chemical attacks during the final weeks of the battle for Aleppo in late 2016, killing nine people and injuring hundreds more, including children. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
