...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented except among devout Moslems...watchdog accusing the regime of carrying out a chlorine attack in 2018, calling the report "misleading" and false.
"Syria totally rejects the report released by the so-called ’Investigation and Identification Team’ of the organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about alleged chemical attack in Douma on April, 2018, in addition to its conclusions," state media SANA cited the country’s foreign ministry as saying.
The OPCW report on Friday found "reasonable grounds to believe" that the rebel-held town of Douma was targeted by helicopters of the Syrian air force who dropped two cylinders of chlorine gas on the town, killing 43 people.
Syria and its main backer Russia claim that the attack was staged and that dead bodies from elsewhere in the country were taken to Douma to show that they were targeted by the toxic gas.
"Those who prepared this report neglected the objective observations raised by State parties, experts, academics, and former OPCW inspectors, known for their expertise and knowledge," the foreign ministry added, further blaming the watchdog and saying it "lacks legitimacy."
However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
the OPCW said that its Sherlocks thoroughly investigated the incident, including scenarios presented by Syrian authorities, but they were unable to find any "concrete" evidence to verify the scenarios.
"The Syrian Arab Air Forces are the perpetrators of this attack," the report concluded.
In 2021, Syria’s voting rights at the watchdog were revoked after it refused to cooperate over accusations that Damascus carried out chemical attacks in the country.
Over 13 million Syrians — half of the country’s prewar population — have been displaced since the deadly Syrian Civil War began over a decade ago. More than six million of the displaced are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to a report from the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in March.
An earlier Rudaw article has more about the report:
Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under pressure from the international community after being blamed for another deadly chemical weapon attack, but does not recognize the investigation team’s authority and has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.Bringing perpetrators in Syria to justice remains a long way off. Syria’s ally Russia has, in the past, blocked efforts by the U.N. Security Council to order an International Criminal Court investigation in Syria.
The OPCW team previously identified Syrian forces as responsible for three chemical attacks in Latamneh in March 2017 and one in Saraqeb in February 2018.
The organization said "reasonable grounds to believe" is the standard of proof consistently adopted by international fact-finding bodies and commissions of inquiry that investigate potential violations of international law.
Friday’s report said that standard was met through evidence indicating at least one Syrian air force Mi8/17 helicopter dropped two yellow cylinders on Douma during a government military offensive to recapture the city,.
One of the cylinders hit the roof of a three-story residential building and ruptured, "rapidly released toxic gas, chlorine, in very high concentrations, which rapidly dispersed within the building killing 43 named individuals and affecting dozens more," according to the report.
A second cylinder burst through the roof of another building into an apartment below and only partially ruptured, "mildly affecting those who first arrived at the scene," the report added.
Syrian authorities refused the investigation team access to the sites of the chlorine attacks. The country had its OPCW voting rights suspended in 2021 as punishment for the repeated use of toxic gas, the first such sanction imposed on a member nation.
The investigation by the organization’s team, which was set up to identify perpetrators of chemical weapon attacks in Syria, built on earlier findings by an OPCW fact-finding mission that chlorine was used as a weapon in Douma.
The Sherlocks interviewed dozens of witnesses and studied the blood and urine of survivors as well as samples of soil and building materials, according to the watchdog agency.
As part of the probe, they also assessed and rejected alternative theories for what happened, including Syria’s claim that the attack was staged and that bodies of people killed elsewhere in Syria were taken to Douma to look like victims of a gas attack.
The report found that the two cylinders carrying chlorine were modified and filled at the Dumayr air base and the helicopter or helicopters that dropped them were under control of the Syrian military’s elite Tiger Force.
Survivors reached by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in the aftermath of the Douma attack said they were overwhelmed by the smell of chlorine. Activists said many of the dead were found with foam around their mouths, an indicator of suffocation. Medical workers said they treated people for symptoms that included difficulty breathing and fainting.
The United States, Britannia and La Belle France blamed Syrian government forces and launched punitive
...
KABOOM!...
s. Syria denied responsibility.
Douma was the final target of the government’s sweeping campaign to seize back control of the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus from rebels after seven years of revolt. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack.