sarin used in syria 5 days before khan sheikhun
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

At a northern Syrian village

Sarin used in Syria 5 days before Khan Sheikhun

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Sarin used in Syria 5 days before Khan Sheikhun

At least 83 people died in the Khan Sheikhun attack on April 4
The Hague - Arab Today

Sarin nerve agent was used in an 'incident' at a northern Syrian village in late March, five days before the deadly attack on Khan Sheikhun, the world's chemical watchdog said Wednesday.

"Analysis of samples collected (by the OPCW)... relates to an incident that took place again in the northern part of Syria on the 30th of March this year," the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told AFP in an interview.

"The results prove the existence of sarin," Ahmet Uzumcu said.

The Khan Sheikhun attack on April 4 was previously believed to have been the first use of sarin since the deadly August 2013 attack in and around Damascus which killed hundreds of people.

But Uzumcu said sarin was used in the opposition-held village of Latamneh, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of Khan Sheikhun on March 30.

"What we know at the moment is not much. Fifty people were reportedly injured. There were no deaths reported," he said.

He said the OPCW's fact-finding mission had retrieved soil samples, clothing and metal parts "which were sent to our laboratories and we received the results a few days ago".

It is "worrying that there is some sarin use or exposure even before the April 4 incident," he said.

- Troubling new information -

At the United Nations in New York, the Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria and ongoing investigations by the JIM, the joint OPCW-UN panel tasked with identifying perpetrators of attacks.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the council was awaiting details of the Latamneh attack, but said the new information was "very troubling to say the least".

France and Britain said the JIM, which is due to submit its report on the Khan Sheikhun attack later this month, must be allowed to continue its work for another year amid fears that Russia may try to shut it down.

Two days after Khan Sheikhun, the United States fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase from which it said the attack was launched.

At least 87 people including 30 children died in the attack on Khan Sheikhun, in the opposition-held province of Idlib.

Uzumcu pointed out that the OPCW's fact-finding mission team was unlikely to visit the area, where fighting is still ongoing between Syrian government forces and armed opposition groups.

"The (fact-finding team) is making every effort to contact the victims," Uzumcu said.

- Damascus denies -

Syria's government has denied involvement and claims it no longer possesses chemical weapons after a 2013 agreement under which it pledged to surrender its chemical arsenal.

The OPCW earlier this year presented a report confirming sarin gas was used in the attack at Khan Sheikhun, but did not assign blame.

UN war crimes investigators last month said they had evidence that Syrian forces were behind the attacks, the first UN report to officially blame the President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Damascus has vehemently refuted the claims saying "Syria has not and will not use toxic gases against its people because it does not have them."

In total, the OPCW is investigating as many as 45 suspected chemical attacks in Syria since mid-2016, the watchdog said in April.

The JIM has already determined that Syrian government forces were responsible for chlorine attacks on three villages in 2014 and 2015, and that Islamic State jihadists used mustard gas in 2015.

Uzumcu told AFP that if the JIM is able to identify those responsible for the Khan Sheikhun attack, "they should certainly be held accountable, prosecuted and punished."

"That's the only way to keep strong the international norm against the use of chemical weapons," he said.

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

sarin used in syria 5 days before khan sheikhun sarin used in syria 5 days before khan sheikhun

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

sarin used in syria 5 days before khan sheikhun sarin used in syria 5 days before khan sheikhun

 



GMT 08:23 2017 Monday ,03 April

Tesla tops quarterly sales forecast

GMT 20:11 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Former head of Egypt’s syndicate submits appeal

GMT 05:28 2017 Sunday ,26 November

Gas exporters call for 'fair price'

GMT 10:51 2018 Tuesday ,11 December

Cloudy weather with rain showers forecast Tuesday

GMT 20:00 2017 Monday ,25 September

Tourism minister leaves for France to attend Top Resa

GMT 22:07 2017 Tuesday ,02 May

UAE soldier martyred in Yemen

GMT 00:25 2017 Sunday ,10 September

Philippines Sees the Bloodiest

GMT 20:21 2017 Wednesday ,08 November

Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry met members of Congress in US

GMT 09:31 2017 Monday ,16 October

Dalal Abdel Aziz happy for “Seventh Neighbor”

GMT 18:16 2017 Monday ,25 December

Sharjah Ruler issues Emiri Decree on SGMB functions

GMT 13:16 2017 Sunday ,15 October

Qatari sheikh says assets frozen over Gulf crisis

GMT 12:50 2017 Saturday ,11 November

ICC prosecutor calls for Afghanistan war crimes probe

GMT 13:28 2012 Friday ,17 February

NYT\'s Anthony Shadid dies in Syria

GMT 16:44 2017 Friday ,01 September

Al-Bashir to partake in OIC Summit in Kazakhstan
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday