According to an investigation by the OPCW, the Syrian air force allegedly carried out a chlorine gas attack in February 2018.
The Hague - According to international experts, the Syrian Air Force carried out a chlorine gas attack in the city of Sarakib three years ago.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) came to this conclusion in an investigation that has now been concluded, as it announced on Monday in The Hague.
Accordingly, a cylinder with chlorine gas was dropped from an army helicopter on February 4, 2018 over the town of Sarakib in the Idlib province.
It broke open and the gas spread over a large area.
Twelve people were injured.
There has been an ongoing civil war in Syria since March 2011 *.
The experts analyzed documents, satellite images and soil samples, among other things.
They also interviewed eyewitnesses and other experts.
The investigation now states that there are "sound reasons" for concluding that the "Tiger Forces" of the Syrian Air Force were responsible for this.
The OPCW had already determined in 2018 that chlorine gas had been used.
Despite the fierce opposition from Syria and its allies, including Russia *, the majority of OPCW member states tasked the organization in 2018 with identifying the perpetrators of such attacks in their investigations into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war *.
In the first report last year, the team blamed the Syrian army for three other poison gas attacks.
So far, the Syrian government has denied these allegations.
Chemical weapons attack: Syria has been part of the Chemical Weapons Convention since 2013
Over the years, the Syrian government army has repeatedly been confronted with accusations of using these internationally banned weapons.
The Assad government denies the use of chemical weapons.
It assures that all its chemical warfare agents have been stored under international supervision in accordance with an agreement concluded in 2013.
Both Syria and Russia belong to the OPCW.
The organization oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention from 1993. This is an international disarmament and arms control treaty that aims to ban chemical weapons worldwide.
In addition, existing chemical weapons stocks are to be destroyed.
The agreement also has a reporting and inspection system for the production, processing, consumption and trading of chemicals that can be used to manufacture chemical weapons, according to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control.
Egypt, North Korea * and South Sudan have not signed or ratified the treaty.
(dp / dpa / afp)
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