UN panel finds forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible for Khan Sheikhun gas attack
New York, October 27: The United Nations investigators on Thursday revealed that the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are responsible for a deadly sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun that killed 80 civilians while 500 others were injured.
Notably, the United Nations (UN) investigators who traveled to an airbase in Syria on October 12 of this year to investigate the recent sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun revealed that the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are responsible for this incident.
Three United Nations diplomat confirmed the report's finding. According to the report, The probe panel is confident that the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhun on 4 April 2017. As soon as the UN investigators revealed this fact, the United States immediately acted tough and renewed its warning quoting that the Syrian president has no role in the country’s future.
United States ambassador to the United Nations Niki Haley after the release of a report on chemical weapons use in Syria said that this report is the fourth instance of confirmed chemical weapons use by the Assad regime, though the actual number is much higher. She said, “Today’s report confirms what we have long known to be true. Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime. And in spite of these independent reports, we still see some countries trying to protect the regime. That must end now.”
“Ignoring the overwhelming amount of evidence, in this case, shows a purposeful disregard for widely agreed international norms. The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators. Countries that fail to do so are no better than the dictators or terrorists who use these terrible weapons,” Niki Haley concluded.
BACKGROUND:
On 4th April 2017, the Khan Shaykhun sarin chemical attack took place 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.
Following to the allegations made by the United States, United Nations launched the probe in Khan Shaykhun sarin chemical attack and send its team comprises of a joint UN-OPCW panel known as JIM. 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.
Later, on Tuesday this week, United Nation was set to vote on whether to extend an international investigation of chemical weapons attacks in Syria but Russia vetoed it by saying the group is biased against the Assad government.
The utilization of chemical weapons was common in Middle East countries to combat terrorists, anti-national elements, political rivalries, political wars etc. is a very common phenomenon in Syria. 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.