An international team has determined that the Syrian government carried out a third chemical attack in the conflict-wracked nation, according to a report released late Friday.
(FOX)- In August, the team from the United Nations and the chemical weapons watchdog blamed President Bashar Assad’s government for using chlorine gas in two attacks and Islamic State (ISIS) fighters for using mustard gas in one attack.
The team said at that time that three other attacks indicated possible government involvement.
In a report sent to the U.N. Security Council late Friday and seen by The Associated Press, the team said there was “sufficient evidence” to conclude that Syrian forces were responsible for one of the attacks in Qmenas in Idlib governorate on March 16, 2015.
It said a device, dropped from a high altitude, “hit the ground and released the toxic substance that affected the population.”
Witnesses and hospital staff identified the smell and symptoms of chlorine gas.
The team concluded, however, that there wasn’t enough evidence to determine responsibility for the two other attacks.
The experts said they couldn’t confirm the use of barrel bombs in Kfar Zita in Hama governorate on April 18, 2014, because the remnants of the device allegedly used had been removed and couldn’t be linked with certainty to the location.
They said additional witnesses corroborated that a canister with traces of chlorine was found in Binnish in Idlib governorate on March 24, 2015. But they said the exact time and location couldn’t be established and the canister couldn’t be linked to any of the incident locations.
(Photo Credit: Financial Express/AP)