UN investigators to visit Syria in Khan Sheikhoun ‘sarin’ gas attack probe

New York, October 12: The utilization of chemical weapons were common in Middle East countries to combat terrorists, anti-national elements, political rivalries, political wars etc. is a very common phenomenon in Syria. Therefore, the United Nations (UN) investigators will travel to an airbase in Syria to probe the recent sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun earlier this year.

 

According to the official sources, a team from the joint UN-OPCW probe, known as the JIM, left for Damascus to probe in the recent sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun earlier this year. The action from UN came after the United States and its allies alleged Damascus of using the sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun earlier this year in which 80 civilians were killed while 500 others were injured.

However, the United States later launched a missile attack on Shayrat in April after concluding that Syrian aircraft loaded with sarin gas, had departed from that airfield to attack Khan Sheikhoun. Meanwhile, the Syrian government has denied all the allegations and reiterated of not using any chemical weapons after a 2013 agreement under which it pledged to surrender them.

Interestingly, the joint investigation of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was set up in 2015 by the Security Council to determine who is behind chemical weapons use in Syria. The JIM has already determined that Syrian regime forces were responsible for chlorine attacks on three villages in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas in 2015.

Background:

Seeing the dangerous effects, the international community came forward to protect humanity and therefore banned the use of chemical weapons. However, it is unfortunate that still chemical weapons are used during the war, proxy war etc in Syria.