Syria
Syrian Army soldiers gather Sunday in an area on the eastern outskirts of Douma as they continue their force offensive to retake the last opposition holdout in eastern Ghouta. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian government expressed “total rejection” Saturday to a report by the global chemical weapons 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, the OPCW said that its investigators 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 High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in March.
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